


Tie My Heart Back Together With String

by AbigailKinney4life



Category: Misfits
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Love, M/M, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-10
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-08 06:51:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 68,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1930893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbigailKinney4life/pseuds/AbigailKinney4life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if it wasn't Alisha that future Simon had come back for, what if it was Nathan. What happens when Nathan discovers the true identity of the guy in the mask? What happens when he finds out that he came back for him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Misfits or any of it's characters, they belong to their respective owners.

Nathan had finished his community service for the day about an hour ago and was ambling around the estate for no reason at all.

Sometimes the community centre was really fucking boring and Nathan liked to get out of there for a while every now and again.

He knew Kelly was going for a drink with some of her friends and he had contemplated joining her but if he was being honest with himself he was just too fucking tired.

He just wanted to go back to the centre, maybe have a wank, then go to sleep.

"Oi, you!" Nathan's thought process was interrupted by a male's voice calling out to him. Turning around, Nathan watched as a big bruiser he didn't recognize came walking up to him.

"What?" Asked Nathan, "do I know you?"

"You're that prick that's sleeping with my girlfriend."

Nathan's eyes went bambi-wide and a genuine confusion swept through him. "Listen, mate-" he began, gearing up for some sort of confrontation. "Even though that does sound like exactly the sort of thing I would actually do...It wasn't me that shagged your girlfriend. All right?"

But the guy stood in front of him didn't look all right at all, he had at least a foot on Nathan and besides his mouth, Nathan didn't have much going for him in the way of defense.

"Look, calm down." He tried again. "You got the wrong guy."

"I'm going to beat the living crap out of you!" The bruiser announced, swinging his gargantuan right fist towards Nathan's face.

Nathan ducked quickly and the fist just skimmed over his hair, but he lost his footing and fell to the floor.

But before he could think of anything else, he spotted a dark figure out of the corner of his eye running along the rooftops.

Hoping beyond hope that he was right about this, Nathan rolled out of the way of the bruisers second punch and called out:

"Oh, so you've finally decided to make yourself useful!"

Less than a second later, the guy in the mask that neither Nathan nor his friends could identify dropped from a building and landed next to the bruiser.

"What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" The angry man said, turning to the guy in the mask.

Nathan watched in amazement as the ski-masked man rained one, two, three punches to the surprised bruiser and sent him running across the estate, shouting profanities back to the pair of them.

"Well, are you going to help me up?" Asked Nathan when the masked man turned to him.

Apparently, having regarded Nathan with a quick look, he decided not to help him up and Nathan watched as he scaled one of the grey buildings and ran onto the roof and out of sight.

Nathan pushed himself up and craned his neck to try and see where the guy in the mask was going.

"Hey!" He called out after him, but no one called back.

He was alone.

…

"So this big fucker was giving it all that, saying that I'd shagged his girlfriend or some nonsense..." Nathan explained. Simon, Kelly, Curtis and Alisha were all stood around him in the community centre locker room, listening intently. "Then that guy in the mask turns up out of no where, saves me from getting my arse kicked, not that I needed saving-" he quickly clarified, earning himself a few eye rolls. "Then he just fucks off, what's that all about?"

"He's never stuck around before." Simon reminded him quietly. Nathan pulled a face at him then returned his attention to the group.

"So, did you do it?" Curtis asked.

Nathan fixed him with a confused stare. "Did what?"

"Did you sleep with that guy's girlfriend?"

"No!" Nathan replied indignantly, "is that the sort of thing I would do?"

He saw some of looks he got around the group and rolled his eyes. "All right, do you lot really think I'm organised enough to cheat with someone?"

"Yeah, he's got a point." Said Alisha eventually.

Nathan shook his head. "That's not the point, the point is, that weirdo turned up again and saved me. How the hell did he know what was going to happen?"

"Are you all right?" Kelly asked, looking at Nathan, forehead creased in concern.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Nathan brushed her off, too preoccupied with the guy in the mask to care about much else.

"He seems to know everything." Simon said aloud, like he was wondering it himself.

"Maybe he's spying on us?" Alisha pointed out, "I mean, he does always turn up when we're in trouble."

Nathan felt an idea spark into his brain and his face broke out into a grin. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" He said, zipping up his orange jump suit.

…

All the guy's Nathan has scoped out so far wouldn't do, they were either too scary or too dodgy-looking. He just wanted to find someone nice and easy to pick on, he momentarily wondered where Barry was.

He saw a man walk towards him and he quickly leant against a concrete wall to try and look as normal as possible.

He waited for a moment until the man has passed him until he shouted out, "I'll give you 50 quid for a blow job."

The man immediately turned around, face pulled down into a grimace. "What did you just say?"

Nathan pushed himself away from the wall, more confident now. "You heard, and for an extra hundred I'll let you have your way with me, I mean, you do look like a perverted queer that needs to pay for sex."

He momentarily wondered if he should be worried that this sort of thing came naturally to him but he didn't really have enough time to worry as the man he had just called a perverted queer practically snarled at him.

"Come here, you dick!" He called out, Nathan looked desperately above him, waiting to see that familiar black blotch running across the rooftops, but there was nothing.

He closed his eyes momentarily. "Well, now is a great time to decide to stop following me, thanks." He said quietly to himself as he watched the man advance on him.

"Listen, mate..." Nathan tried, but the man lashed out and Nathan felt his head smash heavily against the concrete wall. His whole vision swam before his eyes and the last thing he saw before he passed out was the guy in the mask running towards him.

…

Nathan felt like he was coming out of some kind of weird dream as his eyes focused and he realized he was no longer lying on the cold concrete of the floor. He rubbed his eyes and saw that he was lying in a large bed, a large bed that was not his own.

His eyes struggled to focus and the main thing he could see was grey.

After a moment, he felt a throbbing pain swarm in his head and he let out a surprised gasp and his hand instinctively flew to his head.

He could feel something there that wasn't supposed to be there, retracting his hand he crawled slowly out of the large grey bed and saw a mirror close to him.

Inspecting himself, he looked past his tired eyes and focused entirely on the dried blood on the side of his head that was slowly cracking.

Nathan closed his eyes as another wave of pain shot through him. His eyes opened almost immediately as something occurred to him. He looked closer into the mirror, trying to see if there was any actual wound on his head because he might have died again.

Checking his underwear just to be safe, Nathan felt himself growing thoroughly pissed off about his head. Looking around, he tried to ascertain where the hell he actually was.

It just looked like one big, grey...room. It was like an open-planned flat and from his place at the bed, Nathan could see a kitchen and a sofa.

The whole ceiling was covered in mad lighting that was starting to make his already over-sensitive head hurt.

He walked towards one of the walls, it was littered with digital clocks and scraps of paper and Polaroid photographs.

Upon closer inspection, Nathan saw that the photographs were of them. Him and Kelly and Barry and the rest of them. Alisha was right, the guy in the mask was spying on them.

"Sick bastard." Said Nathan quietly to himself.

He wandered around the flat for a few moments more before he heard the familiar sound of a shower going. He licked his lips in anticipation.

Nathan walked slowly towards the sound of the shower, he stopped as he saw a metal railing with the guy's ski-gear hanging from it.

Eyeing it for a moment, he turned and saw him in the open shower. It was a man, but Nathan had expected as much.

He had sort of short hair and he was muscular...Nathan momentarily wondered if it was kind of weird for him to be perving on some guy in the shower but he quickly shook it off.

He figured this guy owed him some answers, naked or not.

He'd obviously heard Nathan walking up behind him but he slowly turned to face him, the water dripping down his face. It was Simon.

"Shit!" Nathan exclaimed loudly, immediately taking off in the other direction.

Simon didn't make a sound as he turned the shower off and ran a towel over himself, Nathan approached the large bed and began to frantically search for his jacket.

He hadn't even realized it had been missing, Simon must have taken it off of him, the sick...

"Nathan."

The word was calm and collected, Nathan spun around and saw Simon stood staring at him. He had put on a pair of tracksuit bottoms but remained shirtless, he was surprisingly toned.

Nathan laughed cruelly at him. "I knew this was the sort of thing you'd get up to in your spare time, pretending you're a fucking superhero!" Nathan gestured to the wall of photographs. "And keeping pictures of everyone? I mean, I always knew you were a sick pervert but what the hell are you playing at, jumping off of buildings...?"

Simon just stood there, patiently waiting for Nathan's rant to end, he knew he would eventually run out of steam.

Realizing he wasn't getting any reaction from Simon, Nathan fell silent. He merely stared at the man for a long moment before he finally spoke again.

"Simon, since when are you the guy in the mask?"

The sentence made Simon smile slightly, this may well have been the first time Nathan had ever called him Simon.

Nathan was staring at him with a look of total confusion and desperation.

"Ever since I traveled back from the future."

Within a matter of seconds, Nathan's cocky demeanor was back and he rolled his eyes, finally spotting his jacket out of the corner of his eye.

Reaching over the bed, he picked up the black material and proceeded to slip it hurriedly over his arms.

"Of course you did." He finally said sarcastically.

"Yes," Simon agreed, "I did."

Nathan stopped for a minute and stared at him, what the hell was going on? "Seriously? You...traveled back from the future."

Simon merely nodded again. "Yes, I did." He repeated.

Simon couldn't tell what sort of emotion was going through Nathan's mind at this point, but after a moment he seemed to regain his composure.

"So that means there are two annoying bastards running around?"

Simon laughed before he spoke. "Yes, there is. But you can't tell anyone I'm here, especially Simon." That last bit was serious.

Nathan stared at Simon for a long moment, he didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to think. "You're...so different." He eventually decided on.

Simon looked at him questioningly and Nathan shrugged.

"Well, you know, you're confident and...not afraid of me and shit." Nathan scratched his head awkwardly, aware that he was making a total idiot of himself.

Nathan risked another glance at Simon, the future Simon, he guessed. He was lean and muscled and he looked strong.

"I had no idea what you were packing under all them clothes!" He said, attempting a smile before it faltered. How much of a freak could he sound at the moment?

He was never speechless, never. But right now he had absolutely no idea what to say.

"I'm not packing anything yet," Simon explained, "not the present version of myself."

Nathan shook his head in bewilderment and shot Simon a pretentious look. "Do you even know how retarded you are?" He asked rhetorically, zipping up his jacket.

"Nathan, wait." Simon called out when Nathan turned to leave. "Don't go yet."

Nathan turned back, Simon didn't sound like he was commanding him, it almost sounded like he was pleading with him.

Nathan wanted to laugh, he wanted to make some cocky retort but he couldn't. This Simon was different, he didn't get offended at Nathan's jokes he just laughed at them.

He looked around the flat, trying to look anywhere but at Simon himself before he sat down awkwardly on the bed, hands stuffed in his pockets, facing away from Simon.

He felt the bed dip as Simon sat down next to him, he turned his head slowly to see Simon staring at him.

His eyes were inquisitive, like he was studying Nathan's movements and his lips were pulled up in a half-smile.

He thought about Simon, the real Simon, the other Simon. The way he would look so scared to join in and when he spoke it was barely above a mutter.

"No offence," said Nathan, "but this is too weird."

"How is it weird?" Asked Simon gently.

Nathan exasperatedly waved his hand, gesturing up and down Simon's body.

Simon grinned, "what?"

"You!" Said Nathan, "you're...you're not..." He sighed to himself. "You're not Barry."

And Simon laughed, full-on laughed freely and it was the first time Nathan had heard that noise come from either one of the Simon's. The noise seemed to instantly relax him and he found himself smiling despite himself.

"So, what possessed you to come back here then?" Nathan asked, turning more towards Simon. "I mean, you could travel back to a hundred cool places and you decide to come back here? Back to your community service with all of the people you never liked."

"I always liked you," Simon told him, catching Nathan's attention. "There were times when I was doing my community service that I thought you were my only friend."

It struck Nathan how easily it was for Simon to tell him that, to drop bombshells like it was casual conversation.

Nathan tried to laugh it off but laughing just made his head twinge. Simon saw him wince and immediately reached out towards him but Nathan stood up instinctively, backing away from the proffered hand.

They stood there staring at each other in silence for a long moment.

"Did I die?" Nathan asked eventually.

Simon retracted his hand and shook his head. "No, but you would have done if I'd left you there any longer."

Nathan laughed, confused. "Why?" He asked, "why didn't you just let me die?"

Simon smirked but there was no humour to it. "Because ever since that storm struck I must have watched you die a hundred times," he said darkly, he looked down at the floor. "And it never got any easier."

Nathan blinked a few times and his breath faltered. "What do you mean, man?" He asked nervously.

Nathan watched as Simon stood up and faced him, he reached out and touched Nathan, just below his wound.

Nathan's eyes fluttered for a moment as the warm hand came into contact with his chilled skin.

He and Simon had never actually touched before, not skin on skin. He murmured something that may have sounded like a quiet "no," he should be haven't these sorts of stirrings in his stomach, he was a woman kind of guy...but that didn't even make any sense.

This was ridiculous, this was Barry.

But then, this wasn't Barry.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Asked Nathan, his eyes darting to the hand on his cheek.

Simon smiled. "You sound angry."

"I am angry."

"But you haven't moved my hand away yet."

Nathan slapped his hand away and backed away from him, infuriated.

"You know, I think I preferred you a lot more when you were a shy, social outcast."

Nathan thought he was imagining the momentary hurt that flashed across Simon's face before it disappeared.

"You don't prefer me as anything yet." He informed him and Nathan very nearly growled.

"Will you stop talking so fucking cryptically and tell me what you actually fucking mean?" He practically shouted, feeling the ire rise in his stomach.

Simon took a deep breath before he spoke again. "This may be hard to believe," he said calmly, walking closer to Nathan who didn't back away, "but in the future, you and I are together."

There was a beat of silence and neither of them moved. Simon half-expected Nathan to shout at him and leave but he just stood there, staring at him.

"You mean," he asked quietly, "together-together?"

"Yes." Simon answered quietly, aware that he was treading on thin ice. There were times when Nathan was like a tiger, he could react unexpectedly at any given moment.

Something in Nathan's brain seemed to snap and he shook his head. "You're crazy," he said before turning on his heel and walking into the lift.

Simon watched him go in silence.


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan slept fitfully that night, he was trying to ignore the main thing he'd taken away from his meeting with the future Simon and tried to focus on some of the other important stuff he'd found out.

The guy in the mask was fucking Simon. He'd never actually found out why he was here, he'd gotten distracted by other stuff and he mentally punched himself for it.

He'd tried to imagine that Simon was playing some sick joke on him but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why he would.

He watched Kelly and Alisha file into the community centre, talking about something. Curtis walked in next followed closely by Simon.

Nathan momentarily contemplated telling them everything that had happened to him last night but he didn't know how the fuck he was supposed to explain to Simon that there were two of him running around.

"Mornin' all," Nathan announced, walking into the locker room. He turned and saw that all four of them were staring at him, shocked.

He looked around for a moment. "What?" He asked, confused.

"What the fuck happened to your head?" Kelly asked.

Shit. Nathan thought to himself, he'd completely forgotten about that. Looking at himself in the locker room mirror, he saw the large gash on the side of his face, he breathed a sigh of relief as he realised it didn't look anywhere near as bad as it did yesterday. Today it looked more like a bad cut and less like he'd just fucking died.

"Oh," he said aloud, trying to sound nonchalant. "I slipped in the bathroom and hit a mirror." He told them, almost proud at how believable his lie sounded.

Luckily, no one said anything else about it and they all got changed and began to talk about all the stuff they normally spoke about. Which was nothing much, really.

They were assigned to do the same boring shit as always, picking up litter outside of the community centre. Nathan was talking to Kelly about something but every now and then his eyes drifted to Simon, standing all alone and putting litter into a rubbish bag.

It was insane to think that this weird kid became that even weirder man. He found himself laughing quietly to himself.

But something else caught his eye about Simon, he was stood all alone.

Despite how much the other Simon had pissed him off last night he did remember that twinge of guilt he got when he'd told him that he felt Nathan had been his only friend.

Besides, this particular Simon hadn't done anything to him.

He sauntered over to Simon who looked up when he came over.

"All right?" He asked, but Simon didn't say anything, he just looked back down at what he was doing.

Of course, Nathan thought to himself, social outcast.

"Listen, Bar...Simon," he said, this caused Simon to look up at him with confusion in his eyes. Nathan didn't really know what he expected himself to say, it was always his downfall.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm such a prick to you sometimes."

Simon stared at him for such a long time that Nathan thought he wasn't going to say anything back and almost turned to leave.

"I...I...I never thought you were a prick." Simon stuttered out, but the impact of his words were loud and clear. "I always just thought you were defensive," Simon carried on, "like you were afraid to let anyone in."

Anything of the affection that Nathan was close to feeling for Simon dissipated in that moment.

Giving him a scathing look, Nathan stalked off back to Kelly, leaving Simon alone.

It was the second time he'd done that now.

…

When Nathan jerked from his sleep that night it was still pitch black. He rolled over on his thin mattress in the community centre and fumbled around for his Ipod.

When he pressed a button he recoiled from the sudden light that flashed across his face, then, with one eye closed, he looked at the time.

1:27AM

Groaning to himself, Nathan let his head hit the pillow again before he realised what had woken him up .

He lazily got out of bed and made his way blindly to the bathroom, not bothering to put any clothes on.

Taking off the ski mask, Simon slipped in through a skylight and landed lightly on the floor of the community centre.

He looked around at the familiar sights of the hall and smiled to himself before sitting down on the floor.

His ears pricked up as he heard shuffling and he stood immediately, cautious because he knew Nathan was in the building somewhere.

He quietly slipped out of the room and ran down the corridor and collided with someone, keeping his footing, Simon looked down to see who he had bashed into only to see Nathan himself sprawled out on the floor, staring fearfully up at him. He was clad only in a baggy t-shirt and black boxer shorts, his curly hair a mess.

All Simon could think about was how gorgeous Nathan looked right now and how he wished he could tell him, he wished he was in a time where Nathan would have blushed and smirked at him instead of staring up at him with raw annoyance like he was doing now.

Nathan quickly pushed himself up off the floor, glaring at Simon. "What the fuck are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He asked, "and why are you knocking me about the place?"

"Err..." Began Simon nervously, causing Nathan's brow to furrow in confusion.

"I heard noises," Simon admitted, "scuffling, I thought you were in danger."

"I was only going to the bathroom, Jesus."

Simon studied him for a moment, hating the lines of anger on his face. "I'm sorry, Nathan."

Nathan rubbed his eyes. "It's okay, man. What are you doing in the community centre?"

A thought crossed Nathan's brain and now the anger was back. "Are you stalking me? Or are you just here to laugh at me being a homeless."

Simon hated the rough edge to Nathan's voice, but this was all new to him, of course he was going to get angry.

"I would never laugh at you." Simon told him sincerely.

Nathan stared at him openly for a second and for the shortest time it felt like they were actually communicating before Nathan's masked defences came back up.

…

The pair of them were sat on Nathan's thin mattress, both overlooking the community centre.

Nathan had pulled on a pair of tight jeans and Simon was almost saddened, but then he remembered that he hadn't travelled back in time to ogle Nathan.

Nathan wasn't looking at him, he was leaning on the railing in front of his makeshift bed and staring out over the hall, he looked troubled.

"How am I supposed to keep this a secret?" He asked eventually, "I mean, I had to lie to everyone today. Not that I care, but if I have to keep it up I'll lose track."

Simon smiled for a second. "I know it's hard," he said, "but it's something you have to do."

"But-" began Nathan, turning to face him. "If no one can know that you're here, why did you tell me?"

Simon didn't answer for a moment. "You're taking it pretty well."

Nathan couldn't help feeling like he was avoiding the question but he dropped it.

"Oh yeah," he said sarcastically, looking out across the hall again, "I'm taking it really well, I mean, I've only nearly died twice in the last few days." He turned back to Simon, "and one of them was you trying to kill me a few minutes ago."

Simon chuckled and Nathan shook his head.

"What about you?" He asked, "I mean, present you." He explained. "I'm sure he'd understand this shit a lot better than me."

"The present Simon has a long way to go." Simon pointed out.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed, "you're right actually, he's just so different to you."

Simon knocked him on the shoulder lightly. "You shouldn't treat him so harshly."

"Hey, I've been trying!" Said Nathan defensively. "Even today, he..." he paused for a moment, "he said that he thinks I'm defensive because I'm scared of letting people in."

He looked at Simon. "Which is bullshit, by the way, I don't want you thinking I'm a total charity case."

"You've never been a charity case," Simon assured him, grinning slightly. "I used to always be afraid about getting on the wrong side of you."

Nathan grinned back but he wanted to shudder when he thought about the power-shift in their relationship.

When he would sit like this with Barry he would know he has complete control over the situation but right here, right now with Simon he felt completely defenceless and he hated it.

"So, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked again, "at the community centre, I mean." He clarified.

"Sometimes I like to come back here," Simon admitted, "just visit the community centre and just sit," he had a glint in his eye like a war veteran recalling the good old days would have.

Simon looked sideways at Nathan. "Sometimes I think that picking up litter was the best time of my life."

"Well," Nathan retorted, "I think that's the sort of illness you need to see a specialist about."

Simon laughed and he knew instinctively that he wanted to touch him, he wanted to reach out and just touch Nathan but he couldn't. Not yet.

"So you're telling me that you've been coming to the community centre in the middle of the night for God knows how long and I haven't even heard you?" Nathan asked, mock-incredulously. "Life just passes me by."

"You've always been a deep-sleeper." Said Simon without thinking.

Simon stared in shock as Nathan sprung to his feet. "That's bullshit," he declared quickly.

Simon's eyes went wide as Nathan towered over him.

Standing up, Simon walked closer to Nathan but Nathan backed away.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" Asked Simon confusedly.

"You!" Nathan exclaimed, "you're wrong. This is wrong! I don't like people pissing around with my head, especially if it's got something to do with my future. There is no way that me and you ever end up together so stop saying it! I'm not gay, and even if I was, I would be able to get someone way better than you! I mean, me and you, how the hell did that even happen?"

Simon stared at Nathan patiently. "You fall in love with me."

Nathan stopped in his tracks and stared as Simon got closer to him, he felt Simon place the same hand on his cheek, he could even feel Simon's hot breath ghosting over his mouth.

He smelt fucking amazing and all Nathan could think about were those feelings in his stomach, the same fluttery feelings he got last night when Simon got this close before and then...

No. This wasn't happening. He's Nathan fucking Young for fucks sake, he doesn't go around snogging blokes and he certainly doesn't go around snogging Barry.

Nathan pulled back, watching Simon stare at him confusedly.

"This is bullshit," he repeated harshly, "I don't have..."

"Nathan." Said Simon quietly, so quietly it was almost inaudible.

Nathan stood stock still for a moment until he angrily batted Simon's hand away from him. "Just fuck off, okay?" He practically shouted before heading down the stairs and out of the community centre.

Simon shook his head, trying desperately not to be upset.

Nathan will understand soon. He told himself before sighing and putting the mask back on.

…

It was the early hours of the morning and the sun was just peaking out above the horizon and Nathan was sat against the cold wall of the entrance to the community centre.

It was chilly without his jacket on so he lit a cigarette to try and keep himself as warm as possible, as he tried to suck in all the heat he could he considered going back inside but Simon could be in there and he didn't want to face that again.

He laughed a little desperately to himself as he thought about how fucked up this whole situation was. He was just trying to lead a normal life, well as normal as it can get when you're immortal, when all this shit happened.

It was hard to think that squeaky little Simon, the kid that Nathan was slowly growing to like had turned into that.

Into this confident, outgoing fucking superhero that not only made Nathan promise not to tell anyone about him but spewed all this shit about how they were some Romeo and Juliet type.

Nathan took another drag of his cigarette, hugging himself as he decided that he wasn't afraid of him, not like that anyway. Among other things, he didn't see any reason why this Simon would hurt him considering he spent half of his time saving his arse, and of course the other big thing was that it's hard to really be afraid of anyone when you're immortal.

But Nathan was afraid of the way Simon made him feel. He'd never felt anything like this before, not even for a girl.

It's not like Simon made him weak at the knees like some vampire bullshit, but he made him all hot and bothered and made him feel like he didn't just want to fuck him he wanted to hold him and touch him, too.

Nathan laughed manically and he didn't really care if anyone heard him. Fuck Barry? Jesus, he was losing his shit.

He let his head drop and raked his fingers through his knotted curls. This wasn't fair, Simon wasn't allowed to do this.

Breathing heavily, Nathan pushed all that to the back of his mind and decided to focus on some of the slightly more important stuff like why had Simon even travelled back in time in the first place?

Nathan must have asked him the same question about 5 times but he always avoided it. And of course, with that big question came a bunch of little questions like trees with branches, like why was he spying on them and saving them and shit? How did he know exactly what was going to happen?

If Simon could make Nathan feel completely stupid and awkward then he could at least answer a few fucking questions.

Nathan lost track of how long he had been outside for, it became less about avoiding Simon and more about him getting lost in his thoughts. That didn't happen that often.

Soon after that, and a few more cigarettes later, Nathan lost track of what he was thinking about all together and was staring at three or four ants scuttling round on the concrete.

It must be simple being an ant.

Nathan looked up and saw Kelly approaching him, it must have been morning already.

Kelly wondered what was wrong with Nathan, he was leaning against the wall of the community centre, barely wearing anything and staring off into the distance.

"Are you all right?" Kelly asked, she knew Nathan was weird and played jokes most of the time but these last few days he'd seemed genuinely out of it, like something was really bothering him.

Nathan looked up at Kelly and suddenly realised how much he really wanted to talk to her about all this, she was the one person he could talk to about his actual feelings and she wouldn't laugh at him, but he couldn't.

He'd promised Simon he wouldn't tell anyone about him, Nathan didn't know why he was protecting him, though.

Nathan nodded at her, flicking his cigarette to the ground. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go inside, it's fucking freezing out here."

Walking into the community centre, Kelly shoved Nathan playfully. "Couldn't you sleep last night?" She asked.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I woke up needing a piss then didn't get back to sleep."

"Oh mate, I fucking hate it when that happens..."

Nathan liked this sort of method of explaining things, it wasn't perfect but he wasn't lying, either.

He'd never liked lying to anyone, he was always so confident that he had no trouble telling anyone the truth about anything, no matter how embarrassing. Now he had to keep this titanic-sized secret to himself...he felt oddly alone.

A few minutes after they reached the community centre, everyone else started to file in.

As Nathan slipped his jumpsuit on over his clothes he watched Simon closely, he saw him pat his hair down nervously like he always did and in that moment decided he wanted some fucking answers.


	3. Chapter 3

"You up to anything tonight?" Asked Kelly as they all filed out of the community centre at the end of the day.

"Seeing a mate." Nathan told her. "Well, I use the term "mate" loosely." He grinned.

"Well, see you tomorrow, yeah?" She asked.

"Yeah," Nathan replied before he turned on his heel and walked down the street in the other direction.

As they watched him go, Curtis leant into Kelly. "Is he acting like less of a prick lately or is that just me?"

Alisha sighed loudly. "Uh, who cares?"

Simon coughed slightly. "The other day, Nathan apologised for being so mean to me sometimes." He added.

"Maybe he's dying?" Asked Alisha after a moment.

"He can't die, he's immortal." Curtis reminded her. Alisha rolled her eyes and walked away, Curtis followed her closely.

After they left, Simon looked seriously at Kelly. "Maybe he's having a mid-life crisis."

Kelly shrugged. "Let's just leave him to it, yeah?"

When Simon still looked concerned she shoved him playfully, "come on, come and have a drink with us."

Sparing one last glance to the direction Nathan went, Simon reluctantly agreed.

…

Nathan walked slowly to Simon's flat-thing, it annoyed him that he remembered the way so easily.

Nathan wondered what it was about this new Simon that annoyed him so much, he couldn't pinpoint it but whenever he thought about him he just got pissed.

As Nathan got closer he realised what he was about to do, he was about to barge in and demand Simon tell him what he's doing there, like some rubbish cop show.

He thought about turning back round but then mentally laughed at himself, he wasn't a pussy, he was just going to go there and get this dealt with.

When the lift reached it's destination, Nathan slowly opened the doors and walked into the flat. The ceiling lights were on full-pelt and it took his eyes a minute to adjust.

Simon was sat by his bed, shirtless, with a weight in one hand. He'd halted his weight-lifting though and was looking at Nathan, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Hey," he greeted.

Nathan hovered in the doorway and didn't offer any kind of reply.

"Come in," said Simon, placing his weight on the floor.

Nathan walked awkwardly into the flat, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets.

"How do you not have a constant headache from the lighting in here?" He asked.

Simon let out a breathy laugh and approached him, holding out his hands.

Nathan, thinking Simon was about to touch him, instantly backed off.

Fighting off a smile, Simon reached his hands out again. "I want to take your jacket," he assured Nathan, trying not to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was.

Nathan quickly shrugged out of his jacket and all but threw it at Simon. His jacket and Simon were having a lot of adventures.

Folding it away, Simon sat down on the large grey bed and patted the space next to him, obviously an invitation for Nathan to sit beside him.

Nathan rolled his eyes, convinced he'd accidentally walked in on a set for a really bad porno.

But, not wanting him, Simon and sex in the same thought process, he sat down quickly beside him.

He didn't like not wearing his jacket when he was in uncomfortable situations because he didn't have anything to do with his hands.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Simon asked.

Nathan knew he'd be like this, under everything, a perfect host. He shook his head quickly.

Simon's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't think I've ever seen you this quiet before." He admitted.

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath before he looked at Simon, determined he wasn't going to wriggle out of the question again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, "why did you come back, why now?"

Not even a beat of silence passed before Simon answered. "I came back to save you." He told him.

Nathan had to stop the customary laugh from escaping. He was really trying to be nicer to Simon, the pair of them.

"You don't have to save me, I'm immortal." He pointed out, voice laced with his former cockiness.

"There are things you haven't faced yet," Simon told him completely seriously. "Things you wouldn't even think of, you're immortality can't always protect you."

Nathan sighed loudly. "You'no, no matter how much you change you always spew the same old shit."

"I haven't changed that much." Simon informed him.

"Err, yes you have." Nathan shot back like Simon was a five-year old. "You're confident and happy and shit, trust me, you're not like that now."

Staring at him, Simon smiled. "It's you who makes me this way." He said quietly.

Nathan knew he should have felt angry, he should have reacted the same way he had reacted every other time and stormed off and then got more angry on his own later.

But he wasn't, he felt relaxed and comfortable and like he wanted to listen.

He was tired of just not listening to everything this Simon told him when he seemed to be right about everything else.

Nathan contemplated that maybe Simon was telling him the truth, maybe, in some fucked up way, they did end up together.

Simon smiled as he saw the thought process going on behind Nathan's eyes. "You finally understand." He said softly.

Nathan ran a hand through his hair and looked at Simon, smiling weakly. He didn't know what had changed, but he wasn't fighting anyone and Simon wasn't going to laugh at him.

"Look, I know I always act like I'm indestructible," Nathan admitted, "I mean, I am indestructible," he clarified, "but what I mean is, whenever I needed someone to actually talk to, I could always talk to you."

He immediately felt so much better having said that, he laughed a little. "I mean, even if you never talked back."

Simon laughed with him. "I'm talking now."

Nathan didn't know what the fuck he was doing, but he leant in and Simon kissed him.

He moaned involuntarily as he felt the days of pent-up frustration spill out through his mouth.

He realised in that second that, sat on the end of this bed, being kissed by Simon was exactly what he wanted.

He ran his fingers through Simon's short hair and felt Simon's hands find his back, lowering him onto the bed.

Nathan's head hit the pillow and he moaned in annoyance as Simon's hot mouth left his, he felt cold and empty.

Looking down on himself, he watched as Simon kissed down his neck.

Nathan threw his arm over his eyes as Simon nipped at his sensitised flesh.

Pushing his shirt up, Simon began to lay soft, hot kisses all over his abdomen and Nathan's muscles arched up.

By the time Simon reached his belt, he looked up to see Nathan covering his eyes and quivering, leaving him breathless and wanton.

Grinning to himself, Simon unzipped Nathan's jeans and tugged them down his legs.

Nathan knew exactly what was going on, he felt the cold air hit his legs as Simon stripped him of his trousers but he didn't care.

He looked down and saw Simon was staring hungrily at his cock, poking out from his crotch, already hard from the stimulation he'd already received.

Simon looked up at Nathan and their eyes locked. Simon could see a thousand emotions trailing through Nathan's eyes and he knew immediately that this was not about the sex, it never was.

Simon lowered his mouth onto Nathan's cock and Nathan cried out and arched his back.

Simon smiled around him as he used his tongue to swipe along the underside, knowing it drove Nathan crazy.

"Fuck!" Nathan arched off the bed even more, he angled his head to look down and saw Simon with his mouth around his cock, his spit dribbling down his shaft and had to bite down on his fist to stop himself coming from that alone.

It was the single hottest thing he had ever seen in his life.

"Jesus, Simon..." he breathed out.

Simon worked his way up to the top of Nathan's cock and licked along his slit and Nathan fucking whimpered as a cascade of sensation poured through his body.

He'd never felt anything like this before, but all he knew was that he didn't give a single shit about anything else and just wanted to stay in this moment forever.

"Nathan..." Nathan looked down to see Simon staring up at him, lips swollen and covered in pre-come. "You're so ready to come," Simon told him, "come on, let go."

The sound of Simon's voice was just so fucking dirty that when he wrapped his hand around the base of Nathan's cock he was spurting thick, white ropes that landed on Simon's face.

Nathan's head fell back and hit the pillow, he breathed heavily as he felt like his whole body was on fire.

"Jesus," he said quietly to himself. Propping himself up on his elbows, he looked down to see Simon wiping the come off of his face.

Nathan's eyes widened. "Oh my God," he began, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."

Simon shook his head, he crawled up Nathan's body and put a finger to his lips to silence him. Only when the finger made contact did Nathan realise it was covered in his own come. He opened his mouth and allowed Simon to put it inside, he sucked on the finger and it tasted like a combination of him and Simon all in one.

"You have no idea how fucking hot that is," Simon growled, retracting the finger.

Reaching up to wipe his mouth, Simon could see that Nathan's hand was trembling. "I have no idea what I'm doing," he told him honestly, "I just know that I want to do it and I like it and..."

"Shhh." Said Simon, taking Nathan's face in his hands. "It's okay."

"I want to have sex with you." Nathan quickly clarified, he fell silent for a moment. "But I don't know how."

Simon smiled despite himself. "I'll show you how."

…

"Are you scared?" Simon asked quietly, his lubed up fingers pressed against Nathan's hole.

Nathan brought his head up from the pillow so he had a full—view of Simon.

He'd never had anything inside him before, he had no idea what to expect. Of course he was fucking scared.

He nodded.

"It's okay," Simon said comfortingly, "I'll be gentle, and if you want to stop, we will."

Nathan leant back against the pillows and shuffled, trying to get ready.

"Okay," he said after a minute, "I'm ready."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Simon teased Nathan's puckered hole open for the first time.

He and Nathan had had sex many times before but not like this, Simon was Nathan's first, just as Nathan was Simon's.

Nathan's muscles spasmed and closed around Simon's finger.

"Do you feel all right?" Simon asked, Nathan nodded but wriggled around a bit.

"Yeah," he assured him, "feels weird."

Simon nodded. "It will do the first time. Can I put another in?"

Staring at him for a moment, Nathan nodded.

Simon slowly eased another finger inside Nathan to join the first and the sight had him nearly salivating.

Nathan was struggling, he didn't know whether to cry out or just simply cry, he'd never felt this invaded and helpless in his life.

Biting down hard, he let out a small whimper as he felt the skin on his bottom lip tear. Why couldn't he regenerate wounds as well?

"Nathan..." He looked down to see Simon staring at him, concerned. "Are you okay?"

Risking a shaky laugh, Nathan nodded. "Yeah."

Simon could see the bubble of blood pooling on Nathan's bottom lip, he realised how hard this must have been for him.

Slowly, Simon began to tease his fingers in and out from inside Nathan. He saw the muscles in Nathan's open thighs strain and quiver. Using his free hand, Simon ran his fingers gently up and down the quivering muscles.

Nathan felt himself relax as Simon brushed his hand up and down his legs, it felt intrusive but he felt safe at the same time.

Simon watched as Nathan's muscles began to ease and, smiling to himself, he crooked his fingers inside of Nathan.

Nathan let out a surprised "oh!" and his hips arched off of the bed. Breathing heavily, his muscles tensed up again.

"Oh my God," he exclaimed quietly.

Grinning, Simon repeated the same movement, brushing across Nathan's prostate two or three times, loving the little keening noises Nathan made and the way his whole body seemed to arch closer to him.

When he did it once more, Nathan's hand found his arm and clasped him around the wrist.

Stilling his movements, he looked up to see Nathan's wide eyes staring at the ceiling, his chest was heaving.

"If you keep that up," he began breathlessly, looking up at Simon. "I'm going to come."

"Do you think you're ready?" Asked Simon gently. Nathan's eyes darted around for a second and Simon leant down and kissed him softly. "You don't have to be scared, it's just me."

After a moment of staring at him, Nathan nodded.

"Yeah, okay. But come here, though."

Smiling, Simon climbed up Nathan's body so they were face to face. Nathan stared up into his eyes and wrapped one hand into his hair, pulling him down into a kiss.

Simon kissed him deeply as he pulled his fingers from him, feeling Nathan shiver below him.

Nathan's mouth was completely familiar to Simon and yet completely new to him all at the same time, he wanted to explore each individual crevice all day long.

Pulling back for a moment, Simon sucked lightly on the tip of Nathan's tongue, fully aware that it drove him mad.

Moaning loudly, Nathan bucked up into Simon, the stimulation to Simon's cock made him groan.

"Will you just fuck me already?" Nathan asked impatiently against his lips.

Simon sat back into his heels and leant across the bed, Nathan admired the muscles in his body as he turned, Nathan had never felt more turned on than he was right now yet he never remembered being attracted to guys before.

Nathan watched silently as Simon rolled a condom onto his hard cock, it was larger than Nathan had imagined and he swallowed.

"Come here." He said quietly, and Simon obeyed, again crawling up his body and capturing his mouth in a kiss.

Nathan opened his mouth and moaned silently as he felt Simon's cock being pushed inside of him. God, it burned.

"Fuck..." He hissed, the pain in his arse shooting up through his spine.

"It's okay," Simon assured him. "It'll pass, I promise."

Nathan nodded, sweat trickling down his forehead. Simon placed his hands on either side of Nathan's head and pulled out of him until only the tip teased Nathan's hole, he could feel it clenching and quivering around him.

He pushed back in and Nathan arched his spine, calling out.

Simon ran a hand through Nathan's damp hair. "You okay?" He asked.

Nathan nodded, eyes closed. Simon pulled back out again and pushed back in, Nathan's reaction was much the same so he did it again, Nathan felt the pain lessen each time.

Then, when Simon pushed in again Nathan felt pleasure shoot up his spine, he cried out and wrapped his legs around Simon's waist, pulling him in again.

"Oh God..." Nathan moaned, "Oh God, don't stop."

Simon would have grinned if Nathan's muscles weren't clenching around him as he fucked into him again and again.

"Jesus," Simon exclaimed against Nathan's lips. "Are you close?"

Nathan opened his eyes and they seemed to sparkle, Nathan never looked more beautiful than he did in that moment.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna come..."

Simon wrapped his hand around Nathan's neglected dick, spreading the pre-come over it's head. Apparently, that's all it took, within moments Nathan was coming again, his back fully arched off of the bed.

The spasm of his muscles around Simon's cock sent him over the edge and he moaned softly as he came deeply into the condom, falling against Nathan, he felt the legs clenched around his waist go slack and Nathan felt like a puddle of jelly below him.

Manoeuvring off of him, Simon rolled to the side of the bed, sliding the sticky condom off of himself, tying it off and catapulting it into a nearby bin, getting it in on the first go.

"Nice shot," Nathan murmured below him. Simon turned to see Nathan still lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He looked tired and freshly fucked.

"How do you feel?" Simon asked.

Nathan didn't reply for a moment. "Well, I certainly didn't see that one coming." He said after a while.

Simon laughed and wrapped his hands around Nathan, pulling him in for a soft kiss. "Don't take this the wrong way," Nathan said quietly, "but you're a lot better than I thought you were going to be."

Simon rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. "I had a good teacher." He told him, stroking up and down Nathan's cheek. "You."

Nathan blinked a few times. "You mean the present you?" He asked, looking momentarily confused. "Me and him? That's what happens?"

Simon nodded. "Yes, it's your love that turns him into me."

Nathan sat up slowly, running his hand through his hair. He let out a noise of distaste as he realised how wet his hair was.

"Is something wrong?" Simon asked, momentarily worried that Nathan was going to leave.

"No one ever said anything about love." Nathan told him.

Simon reached a hand up and tugged Nathan down next to him. "Don't worry about any of that yet," he said softly, "just be in the moment."

Nathan tried to cast all of those thoughts aside, he was pretty sleepy. He would have loved to just sleep like that, feeling Simon's body heat against him and feeling him trailing his fingers comfortingly up and down his warm skin, but no matter how much he wriggled he couldn't settle down.

"Are you all right?" Simon asked.

Nathan wiggled some more. "I can't get the sleep." He finally admitted.

"Just try and relax," Simon told him, "remember, you haven't got to prove anything to anyone."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's easy for you to say." He wriggled around until he was facing Simon. "This is all new to me."

"You know," began Simon, "in the future, in your future, when we're together, and when we were lying in bed, I used to draw little circles on your skin, just like this-" as he said it, he began outlining little circles on Nathan's exposed collarbone, the movement instantly relaxed him.

"-And every time I did it..." Simon carried on, "it always sent you straight to sleep."

Simon's voice was oddly lulling when Nathan actually paid attention to it, and he didn't think he'd ever felt more relaxed in his life.

After a few more minutes of Simon's ministrations and Nathan's breathing evened out and his head lulled back onto Simon's shoulder.

Simon kissed him gently on the forehead and smiled, settling down to sleep right next to him.

At around 4am Simon was awoken by a quietly beeping alarm, slowly turning around to make sure Nathan hadn't been woken up, he slowly disentangled himself from Nathan's body and got out of the bed. He walked over to the wall and checked one of the digital clocks, it was for 30 minutes and counting.

Getting dressed into his black outfit quietly so as to not to wake Nathan, he walked over to where he lay sleeping and kissed him lightly on the forehead, he watched Nathan twitch in his sleep.

"I love you so much," he whispered before leaving the flat.

 

A/N: Just for the record, I am absolutely appalling at writing sex scenes so I apologize for putting you through it xxx


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I have to say, I'm genuinely surprised at the amount of positive reviews this has received, thank you all so much x

When Simon arrived back in the early morning he took off his ski-mask and placed on the table, unzipping his outfit he walked towards the bed to see if Nathan was still asleep but the bed was empty, and looking around, he realised that all of Nathan's clothes were gone.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Nathan in the kitchen, he looked like he had hastily thrown all of his clothes on, his jeans weren't buttoned properly and his t-shirt was askew and he was trying to hurriedly put his jacket on when he saw Simon walking towards him.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" Asked Simon confusedly.

But Nathan just laughed humourlessly. "I should have known," he began, "all that talk was bullshit, you just shag and leave."

Simon closed his eyes for a moment, he suddenly realised what this must look like to him. "Nathan, please," Simon tried desperately, "I swear, I didn't leave you, I just had somewhere I needed to be..."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Of course," he said sarcastically. "I mean, you just fucked me to within an inch of my life but of course you had somewhere more important to be."

"Nathan, it's not like that..." But Simon's remarks fell on deaf ears as Nathan finally managed to struggle into his jacket and pushed past him roughly, heading for the door.

Simon reached a hand out and grasped Nathan around the wrist, turning back to Simon, Nathan stared at him in confusion and tried to jerk his hand out of Simon's grip but Simon was too strong.

"Let go of me," Nathan hissed, baring his teeth.

But Simon didn't relent. "No," he said, "all you're doing is trying to find any reason you can to push me away!" He told Nathan heatedly. "It's all because you're scared of your own feelings."

Nathan tried again to pull his arm away but his efforts were useless, he was actually starting to feel kind of scared, but he'd never show Simon his weaknesses, not now.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Nathan snarled. "I could never be!"

"I know you're not afraid of me!" Retorted Simon angrily, "you're afraid that you might actually fall in love with me, it scares you to death and you just want to get out and leave it alone before anything happens and you're in too deep to leave." Simon's voice had evened by now, causing Nathan to stop his struggling. Simon was somewhat captivating when Nathan paid attention to him. "What's happening here-" he continued, "-is that you are the one who is shagging and leaving."

Nathan's hand went limp in Simon's grip and in that second he suddenly looked so young, so innocent. Like every single wall he had ever built up around himself had come crashing down around him.

Simon let go of Nathan's wrist and Nathan's hand fell limply to his side, he paid no attention to it.

Nathan swallowed a couple of times, the distress clear in his eyes. Simon could see that Nathan was this close to bolting again but something was stopping him, holding him back.

"If I'm so messed up then why are you even bothering with me?"

The words hit Simon like a bulldozer, he stared at Nathan for a moment, sometimes he was a total idiot. "Because I love you," Simon told him, "I love you and...I miss you even though you're stood right in front of me. You have no idea how lonely I am without you."

That last bit was barely above a whisper and Nathan could feel the blood in his ears.

"What do you want?" He asked quietly, his throat dry.

"I want you to understand how much I love you," Simon told him earnestly, "and I want you to stop treating those feelings in your stomach as alien and allow yourself to be loved in return."

Nathan didn't move, Simon wasn't even sure if he was still breathing. Slowly, ever so slowly, Simon leant in and kissed Nathan.

Whatever Nathan was feeling at that moment was unclear but his body was responding, he kissed Simon back tentatively.

Simon couldn't help it, now wasn't the time for tentative kisses. He kissed Nathan harder, making him moan into Simon's mouth. Nathan threw his arms around Simon's neck and reciprocated.

Simon curled his hands around Nathan's arse and lifted him, Nathan wrapped his legs around Simon's waist without ever breaking the kiss.

Depositing Nathan onto the edge of the counter, Simon stepped back to wrestle out of his clothes, Nathan looked so fucking hot. His lips were pink and swollen and his hair was ruffled.

After Simon had thrown his clothes unceremoniously to the floor, he tugged Nathan's jeans down his legs and Nathan shed his own jacket and t shirt, once he was completely naked, he wrapped his long legs around Simon's waist and pulled him into him again, their erections brushed and Nathan moaned loudly and bit into Simon's neck, Simon almost came from that alone.

Simon brushed Nathan's cheek slowly. Nathan smiled slightly, nodding at him.

Simon reached across the kitchen counter and opened a draw, the movement made Nathan keen into him.

Simon returned to face him holding a strip of condoms. Nathan arched an eyebrow.

"Do you keep them everywhere?"

Simon shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I mean, you always want to have sex anywhere and everywhere."

Nathan blushed a little but hid it well. "Yeah, well, I'm a stallion."

Simon smiled at him for a moment but then they were kissing again, hard. Simon ripped open the condom and reached between them to roll it onto himself.

The condom was pre-lubed but still...

"Are you sure you don't want some more preparation?" Simon asked.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Will you just shag me already?" He asked.

Simon would have laughed if he weren't so completely turned on, holding Nathan's hips still he thrust forward into the other man.

Nathan squirmed and arched beneath him, so unused to being penetrated this way. If Nathan made any sort of movement it sent sensations coursing through the pair of them.

His fingernails digging into Nathan's flesh, Simon began to move his hips, plunging in and out of Nathan's puckered hole.

Nathan's toes curled as he used his legs to pull Simon in deeper, gasping loudly when he felt that burst of electricity shoot through his entire body.

"Jesus," Nathan moaned out after a minute, slurring, "I'm gonna come..."

Simon took one hand from Nathan's hip and dug it into the man's curly hair, pulling his head back and biting his neck, simultaneously plunging into him harder.

Nathan gave a loud moan of pleasure and Simon felt Nathan's hot come hit his stomach, he continued to fuck Nathan until the pressure around his cock became too much and he came forcefully, shoving Nathan back further onto the counter.

He stilled as he heard Nathan breathing heavily, then, after a moment, he felt Nathan's head come to rest on his shoulder.

Simon put his arms around Nathan's heated skin and just held him, after a few moments, Simon pulled back and looked at Nathan, into his bright eyes.

Nathan's legs finally went lax around Simon's waist.

Simon ran a finger over Nathan's lips and watched as he shivered. "How can this not be real?" He asked in a whisper.

He watched as tears welled up in Nathan's eyes, but they weren't tears of sorrow, just tears of pure emotion.

Using his thumb, he wiped the tears away before they fell too far down Nathan's red cheeks.

Nathan quickly scrubbed the tears away from his own face, shaking his head.

"You're really going to have to let me fuck you sometime." He said quietly, attempting humour.

Simon laughed and brought Nathan's face to his, Nathan kissed him first, capturing his swollen lips in his.

As Nathan gingerly picked up his jacket from the floor several minutes later, he cast his gaze over to Simon who was slipping a dark t shirt over his head, covering those down right gorgeous muscles of his.

When Simon was fully dressed, he caught Nathan staring at him.

"What?" He asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

"So-" began Nathan, trying his best not to sound like an idiot. "Are we like, seeing each other now?"

Simon nodded. "Yes."

Nathan didn't know what to do. Of course he wanted to be with Simon, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember what he had wanted before. But saying it out loud like that...

In here, in this little underground flat, the rest of the world wasn't real. Saying that they were together now shocked Nathan into remembering that this was all actually happening and wasn't some weird dream.

 _Perfect dream, though_.

"You can't tell them," Simon told him, for maybe the millionth time, "you still have to keep all of this a secret."

Nathan nodded slightly in agreement. "I don't know how I'm going to be able to hang around with the other you all day and not want to rip your clothes off."

Simon walked so close to Nathan that their noses were almost touching, curling a hand around Nathan's waist he all but yanked the man towards him, their lips meeting in a kiss.

"Just remember that I'm waiting for you when you finish your community service." Simon said against Nathan's lips.

Nathan smiled.

…

Nathan walked into the community centre, hands in his pockets. When he got there, everyone was already lazily sat in the hall where his bedroom was.

"Where were you?" Kelly asked, pointing up towards his makeshift bed.

Having the most incredible sex of my life. "Just out." Said Nathan, "mornin'!"

"Yeah, what's your point?" Asked Curtis immediately.

Nathan's brow furrowed in confusion. "What point? I was just saying hello."

"Yeah, but it's never just hello with you, is it?" Curtis quipped. "You've always got something to say."

Nathan shrugged. "Oh well," he patted his pockets down for a moment. "Fresh out."

Kelly stared at him, bewilderment on her face, starting to wonder if what Simon had said was true, maybe Nathan was having a mid life crisis?

"You feeling all right?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Nathan answered indignantly. "Can't a man just be happy for a change?" And with that, he walked off, leaving the rest of the gang staring at each other in confusion.

Mid morning, when their lunch break finally came around, they all shunned out of their community service gear and made their way to one of the benches in front of the community centre.

It was coming onto Autumn and the chill was evident in the air but it was still warm enough to sit outside and enjoy the sights, however much of an estate you can enjoy, anyway.

"D'ya want one?" Kelly asked Nathan, shoving a packed of cheese and onion under his nose.

Nathan dug his hand in the packet and pulled out a handful of crisps, he offered her his own prawn cocktail and she gave them the same treatment.

"Watch out," Curtis laughed, "you don't know where his hands been."

"I could saw the same about you." Nathan sneered, gesturing towards his crotch, Curtis rolled his eyes.

Nathan glanced around and saw Simon sat on the end of the bench, silently eating a perfectly cut sandwich.

"You all right?" Nathan asked, mouth full of crisps.

After realising he was the one Nathan was addressing, Simon looked up. "Sorry?" He said meekly.

Nathan swallowed his crisps. "I was asking if you were all right," Nathan repeated, trying to be nicer to the kid, to make him feel more comfortable.

"Oh, I'm all right." Simon answered, a small smile ghosting over his lips.

Nathan answered with a big smile of his own but was cut off by a large shout next to him, both Nathan and Simon looked around to see Kelly being held by a man, a small knife held up to her throat.

"Shit..." Nathan exclaimed quietly.

"Just let her go!" Alisha shouted, hands out in front of her, they were all used to muggings happening around here, but never one this close.

Seeing the fear in Kelly's eyes, Nathan did the first thing that came to mind. He ran for her, if he knocked the knife away from her throat, obviously the guy would try to stab him, problem solved.

But before he reached her, a streak of black appeared out of nowhere and expertly tackled the mugger away from Kelly, sending her back to the group. Kelly landed in a heap, held up respectively by Nathan and Alisha, but she was too busy staring at the guy in the mask who punched the mugger swiftly in the face and sent him running off in the other direction.

The guy in the mask turned to them all, but Nathan couldn't help but feel like he was looking back at him, he sent a small salute in Nathan's direction before vaulting up the side of a building and out of sight.

Nathan nearly smiled but then he felt Kelly shaking in his arms.

"Hey," he said, "You all right?"

Kelly nodded vaguely until Alisha came forward and took her out of Nathan's arms, Nathan watched for a moment as they all began taking Kelly back to the community centre, feeling surprisingly alone.

…

Nathan broke the lock on the alcohol cabinet in the community centre, again berating himself for not having his own set of keys cut, and poured out a large measure of vodka into a glass.

Walking out into the main hall, Nathan saw Kelly slumped in a wheel chair with everyone else crowded around her.

Nathan handed her the drink. "Here, it'll calm you down."

Kelly gratefully took the glass and downed the vodka in one go before shaking her head. "That fucking guy in the mask." She said quietly.

Nathan's brow furrowed. "What? What did he do?" He asked quizzically.

"You changed your tune," Curtis pointed out, "you were just as pissed off with him as we are the other day."

"Well, you know..." Nathan began, gesturing to Kelly, "he saved Kelly's life, and he's probably saved all of our lives at some point." With that, he turned to Simon, the pair maintained eye contact for a moment until Simon turned away, blushing, probably wondering what the hell Nathan was doing.

Curtis shook his head. "Prick." Obviously Simon wasn't the only one who thought he was taking the piss.

"Hey!" Began Nathan indignantly, "I'm not even taking the piss, I'm being serious!"

"It's a first for you." Alisha pointed out.

"You don't do it a lot." Simon clarified.

Nathan scowled at them. "Yeah, well maybe it's because I'm surrounded by a group of cunts all the time."

And with that, Nathan stalked off out of the community centre, leaving Kelly to stare, bewildered, after him.

…

Nathan stalked around Simon's kitchen, banging various food items onto the table in annoyance before making a sandwich.

Sitting down, he stuffed the sandwich into his mouth and chewed angrily. He always did this, whenever he got angry, he ate. He didn't particularly know why, but all he'd wanted to do after he left the community centre was to come and see Simon but he wasn't here, obviously being a bullshit superhero somewhere else, so Nathan had sat and ate.

He didn't know why he was so pissed off, he was always having confrontations with Curtis, but he was actually trying to be a dick those times, it wasn't fair when he was actually trying to be nice.

He wandered to the fridge in search of beer when he heard the rattle of the lift, Nathan looked around the open planned kitchen to see Simon walking towards him and instantly relaxed.

This wasn't the awkward Simon of the community centre, this was his Simon, the real one, and he was smiling at him.

"Beer's in the cooler." Simon pointed out before walking to the bed and pulling off his ski gear.

Nathan rolled his eyes, only Simon would have a cooler. He fetched himself a drink and followed Simon to the bed.

As Simon pulled on an off-white wide beater Nathan crashed down onto the end of the bed.

"Is Kelly okay?" Simon asked.

"She's fine."

Simon could here the ice in Nathan's voice and frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

Nathan huffed. "It's ridiculous, no matter what I do, even when I'm trying to be nice, people still treat me like a prick."

Simon slowly sat down next to Nathan, smiling. "Nathan," he began, "I'm not going to lie to you, you can be hard to get along with."

"Yeah, you think I don't know that?" Nathan asked rhetorically, taking another swig of beer.

The pair were silent for a long moment.

"I wonder why I was so nice to you so me and you ended up together." Nathan wondered out loud.

A smile ghosted across Simon's face. "I think it was me, my future self," he clarified, "is what makes you and my past self get together, like a sort of paradox."

"What?" Asked Nathan slowly, concerned. "What do you mean, me and your past self?" He looked at Simon for a long moment. "Does something happen to me, does something happen to you?"

Simon shook his head. "Nothing happens to you," he told him, pulling Nathan into a sideways hug. "And everyone will come around once they get to know you like I do."

After a moment, Nathan pulled back and looked at Simon, a little smirk playing on his lips.

"Soooo..." He began, drawing out the word. "Do you want to shag me, then?"

Simon laughed out loud. "Really? I thought you wanted to do the shagging next time?"

But Nathan didn't answer, there was something in his eyes that was almost desperate, like he needed Simon to make him feel special. He'd tried with the others and got it thrown back in his face and his self-esteem was damaged, though he'd never admit it to anyone, but as close as Simon was to Nathan...he always knew.

However, despite how long Simon had known Nathan, it still managed to surprise him how much his walls came down when it was just the two of them, and just how innocent he was behind the jibes and insults.

Simon leant into Nathan and kissed him softly, before taking Nathan's hand in his own and pulling him down onto the bed.

...

Two days had passed and Nathan and Simon were living in a sort of couples bliss, it was like that sickly first relationship you had where you had never felt this good in your entire life.

"What have you got to do today?" Simon asked from the kitchen, mercifully wearing a shirt otherwise Nathan would have just jumped him again and would have never got to his community service.

Nathan shrugged, shoving the last bite of his toast in his mouth. " 'Ome boring 'Hit."

Simon rolled his eyes. "Do you know how attractive you are when you talk with your mouth full?" He asked sarcastically.

Nathan flashed him a cheeky grin before bouncing around the kitchen counter and planting a kiss on Simon's lips before he left.

As he was walking to the community centre, Nathan shook his head at himself as he realised that he was acting like a love sick teenager who'd never been in a relationship, but in truth, he'd never had a relationship like this before.

One that made him mad and happy all at the same time, but also one that was totally secret but at the same time seemed to be changing the person he actually was.

In the locker room, Nathan shrugged on his community "blowback" jumpsuit, pulling out his phone to check the time. Kelly bumped him on the way in and he smiled at her.

A totally normal start to a totally normal day.

Then Simon walked in, and it wasn't a normal day any more. Every time Nathan saw the present Simon, he always remembered all the time travel, secret crap when all he wanted was an ordinary relationship with his Simon.

He ignored Simon as the group walked out of the community centre, Nathan talking to Kelly, Alisha talking to Curtis and Simon walking all on his own.

The preferred brand of bullshit for today was painting some alley walls white, Nathan begrudgingly shoved his paint brush into the paint tin and sloshed the paint onto the wall without any particular finesse, wishing he could be anywhere else but here.

Not being particularly engrossed in his work, he noticed Kelly staring at him from across the alley way, the pair of them were quite a way away from the rest of the group, that always seemed to happen.

He turned to her but she didn't look away, he hoped she wasn't reading his thoughts.

"You all right?" She asked.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"You just seem happy lately," she answered, turning back to her work. "Like you're in love or something."

Nathan turned back to his own section of the wall, holding the paint brush loosely in his hand.

Simon had said they would fall in love, hadn't he?

Nathan didn't believe for a second that he and Simon were just mindlessly shagging, he definitely had strong feelings for him.

Confused, he turned back to Kelly. "So, hypothetically," he began, "If I had...you know...fallen in love with someone, how would I know?"

Kelly thought about it for a moment. "You just know," she finally decided, "it's like an instinct, like you just want to be around them all the time, it's dead weird."

"Huh." Said Nathan, processing the information. He did just want to be around Simon all the time and he couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

"Maybe I do love him." Shit.

"Him?!" Said Kelly loudly, making Nathan squint.

"Shhh!" He whispered, Kelly looked around for a moment, no one else had noticed.

"Are you gay?" She whispered back.

"No!" Nathan answered indignantly, a little too quickly.

Kelly shot him a deadpan look. "How can you not be gay if you around shagging blokes?"

"I don't go around shagging blokes," Nathan retorted. "It's just the one, all

right!"

Kelly stared at him for a long moment until her face broke out onto a shit-eating grin, Nathan stared at her incredulously as she laughed.

"I fucking knew it!" She exclaimed, "I knew you 'ad someone!"

Nathan scratched the back of his head and blinked a few times. "You're not mad that it's a guy?"

Before he could say anything else, he felt a large sting to his head as Kelly's hand connected with his head.

He grabbed his head defensively and ducked. "Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Do you really think I would think less of you because you're seeing a guy?" She

began angrily, "I thought we were mates."

"We are mates," Nathan clarified, rubbing his head. "But, you'no, my reputation..."

He saw Kelly's hand shoot out to slap him again but he ducked before the blow connected, he saw that she was smiling at him. "Dickhead," she said, "you're gay, not a fucking Nazi."

Nathan couldn't help smiling, it felt strangely good to have an ally in Kelly, someone he could tell the truth to. Obviously he couldn't tell her the whole truth but he felt like he at least had someone to talk to now.

"So..." Continued Kelly after a while, "what's his name?" She turned to him with a look of surprised excitement. "Oh my God, do I know him?"

Nathan shrugged slightly. "No, you don't know him." He wasn't lying, Kelly really didn't know Simon, but he supposed one day she would.

"What's his name?" She asked again.

"It's really not that important..."

"Come on, just tell me."

"All right," Nathan yielded, "Simon."

Kelly looked like she was contemplating for a moment before she laughed. "Ha, thought you meant our Simon for a moment then."

Nathan laughed too. "Don't worry, I can assure you I'm not shagging Barry."

The pair lapsed into silence for a few seconds, Nathan contented himself with staring at a plastic bag being blown across the floor, Kelly was twiddling her bottle of drink in her hand.

"So, do you love him?" She asked after a while.

Nathan was going to immediately rebuff her, maybe laugh at her joke. But this was Kelly, she knew what love was, and she understood this feelings crap, maybe she could help him understand what the fuck was going on in his head.

"I don't know," said Nathan, exasperated. "I mean, it feels like all the stuff you described but it isn't all..." He waved his arms around, "you know, tweeting birds and trumpets out of a kids film."

"That's 'cause that's all bullshit," said Kelly bluntly, "love hurts like a bitch, and sometimes it can be the biggest pile of wank and make you happy, sad and angry all at the same time. What what matters is if you wanna see their face everyday, even if you want to punch it sometimes."

Nathan laughed, he couldn't help himself. That did kind of sum up how he felt about Simon, sometimes the man just pissed him off with his lovey dovey-ness and his little clocks...but Nathan liked being with him, he liked how he looked forward to seeing him.

"I haven't been this happy with my life in...well, in a fucking long time."

Kelly punched his arm playfully. "You dick." She said.

Nathan turned to her, not quite a smile on his face, but his large eyes looked desperate.

That soft spot inside her heart she would always have for him opened up and she reached out her arm, he leant his head on her shoulder, his curls tickling the side of her neck.

"It's gonna be all right." She promised.

Curtis, Alisha and Simon walked over to the pair of them, Kelly retracted her arm from around Nathan and Nathan sat up a little straighter, attempting to look a little more relaxed than he probably did.

"What are you guys up to?" Asked Curtis.

Kelly smiled sweetly up at him. "It's nothin', mate." She said.

"Well, come on then, I'm bored of this shit." Said Alisha, turning back to the community centre. Curtis followed suit and after a moment of staring at Kelly and Nathan, Simon also followed slowly.

Nathan jumped to his feet and helped Kelly up. "You're not going to tell anyone?" He asked.

Kelly shook her head. "Your secret is safe with me, now, go to Simon, tell him you love him, I'll go and tell that lot that your hamster died or something."

Nathan laughed loudly and Kelly gave him a little wave as she walked to join the rest of the group.

Thinking for only a moment, Nathan dropped the paintbrush he had been holding back into the pot, sending white paint spraying across the concrete floor, before bounding off to Simon's flat.


	5. Chapter 5

Nathan was jumping up and down on the balls of his feet as the lift dipped slowly closer to Simon's flat, it seemed to be going much slower than normal.

Ever since he left the community centre, he seemed to be running on a sort of weird adrenaline rush. He was done, he was done being scared, he was done worrying about his future and what was going to happen, he was going to "live in the moment" as Simon liked to call it, he was just going to admit his feelings and be done with it.

The lift doors finally opened and Nathan all but bolted into the flat but stopped immediately when he saw Simon, he was stood, back to Nathan, staring solemnly at one of his digital clocks.

Nathan had never asked what those clocks were for, he had probably intended to at some point, but lately they had always been preoccupied with other activities.

"Simon?" Asked Nathan tentatively. Simon's shoulder blades twitched slightly, he obviously hadn't known that Nathan was behind him, which was also odd for him.

But he smiled anyway, he loved hearing Nathan's voice, he'd always been in love with his gorgeous Irish lilt.

He turned to Nathan, muscular arms folded but he was smiling, Nathan stood in his orange jumpsuit, a look of concern in his eyes.

Simon didn't mind not rocking that particular look any more, but Nathan always made it work.

"Are you okay?" Asked Nathan, Simon nodded, seemingly easing back into his normal attitude.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Aren't you supposed to be at the community centre?"

Nathan now felt a little awkward, stood there in his jumpsuit, all of the adrenalin he'd previously had had dissipated.

Not knowing what to do with his hands, Nathan began to fidget. "Yeah, it's nothing, I better be getting back, actually." Nathan turned to leave without looking at Simon, taken over by embarrassment.

"Wait."

Nathan turned back to see Simon walking towards him, his usual swagger seemingly returned, he also appeared to be looking Nathan up and down.

"You know, I've always loved you in that jumpsuit." Simon grinned slightly, "In fact, when I was doing my community service, I used to fantasize about it."

Nathan's smirk could probably have been seen by satellites.

"Really?" He said, "so...Barry is fantasizing about me." He thought to himself for a moment. "I'm irresistible."

Simon laughed, but he seemed a little shy all of a sudden, and Nathan realised what had just happened. Simon had just admitted one of his deepest fantasies and like hell was Nathan going to take advantage of it.

Sticking his tongue out, Nathan tantalisingly unzipped the jumpsuit to his waist, revealing the milky white torso beneath.

"So," he began, watching Simon's eyes roaming over his naked flesh, "what exactly was your fantasy?"

Simon walked even closer to him so they were practically touching. "I wanted to make you come so hard you'd shoot all over that jumpsuit, mixing the white in with the orange." He said, barely above a whisper, and Nathan momentarily wondered who was in control of this fantasy.

Nathan swallowed and his hands dropped limply to his sides. He watched silently as Simon reached a hand out and unzipped Nathan's jumpsuit lower, slipping his hand into Nathan's partially exposed black boxers and pulling his soft dick out.

Simon softly stroked Nathan's cock until it began to harden, it was a little painful without any lube, so Simon fingered the precome that was pooling at the head of Nathan's cock and rubbed it down Nathan's shaft, making him squirm.

Sometimes, Nathan got pissed off by how quickly he came when he was with Simon, but right now in this moment, he couldn't give less of a shit if he tried.

Simon was wanking his cock so fast that Nathan thought he might actually rip it off, the heat was building up in his stomach quicker than it had ever done before.

"Fuck..." Nathan choked out, "fuck...Simon, I'm gonna come..."

But before he could, Simon suddenly stopped, his warm fingers left Nathan's dick impossibly hard and streaming at the top.

The loss almost physically hurt.

Nathan was too far gone to get angry, he was just desperate.

"Please," Nathan begged, "please, don't stop."

Simon grinned evilly at him, placing his hand on Nathan's chest, he pushed him down onto the bed.

Nathan stared up quizzically at Simon, now towering over him. "Finish yourself off," Simon all but commanded, "that was the second part of the fantasy."

Nathan wanted to retort with something cocky but he was too far gone, instead, he wrapped his cold hand around his rock hard cock and shivered at the change in temperature.

He began to stroke himself slowly, allowing himself to get used to his cold hand and he shuddered as the heat began to build up again, his hand got faster until all he could think about was coming.

He cried out and Simon watched as thick white spurts hit Nathan's chest and shot all over his orange jumpsuit. He could feel himself getting impossibly hard in his underwear but he continued to watch instead of touching himself, Nathan's eyes were squinted shut, his face was contorted in pleasure, his chest was quivering and his pale flesh and bright jumpsuit was covered in his own come, Simon thought he might come untouched.

After a few moments, Nathan opened his eyes to see Simon staring hungrily at him, Nathan lowered his eyes to see the bulge in Simon's trousers and grinned breathlessly.

Partly because he wanted to be sexy, but mainly because he didn't have his breath back yet, Nathan manoeuvred onto his front and crawled off of the bed and crawled on the floor towards Simon, making sure to arch his back just a little too much to make sure Simon was as turned on as possible.

When he reached Simon, he knelt on his knees and looked up to see animalistic eyes staring back at him.

Not breaking eye contact, Nathan reached up and opened Simon's trousers, dragging them down to his knees.

Simon ran his hand through Nathan's hair, feeling his soft locks tumbling through his fingers. "Are you sure?"

Nathan didn't nod before he eased the tip of Simon's cock into his mouth, Simon hissed slightly at the contact, feeling a small wave of pleasure shoot through him.

Unsure of what to do, Nathan did the only thing he could think of and took more and more of Simon's thick cock into his mouth until he was almost hitting the back of Nathan's throat, but after that, he had nothing.

He didn't want Simon to think he didn't know what he was doing and got really embarrassed because he was just knelt on the floor with Simon's cock in his mouth and...

He felt Simon's hand on his cheek, directing his face up to his. Nathan cast his eyes up to see Simon staring down at him with gentle eyes.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Simon directed Nathan's head back and forth, moving his mouth over his cock.

Simon's hand faltered on Nathan's cheek as the waves of pleasure began to overtake him. Nathan's eyes flashed up to Simon, his eyes were closed and his head was thrown back.

Smiling devilishly around Simon's cock, Nathan pulled up and swirled his tongue around the head of Simon's cock and felt a wave of smugness as he heard a broken moan drift down from above him.

Simon looked down to see Nathan concentrating all his ministrations on his cock, his cheeks were hollowed where he was sucking and he was fucking whimpering around his cock.

"Wait, wait!" Simon called out, Nathan stopped moving his mouth and stared up at his lover, concern in his eyes.

"I'm going to come." Simon clarified, Nathan slowly, agonizingly slowly pulled his mouth of off Simon's cock with an obscene "plop" and it was nearly too much for him.

"What's wrong with that?" Asked Nathan, looking fucking gorgeous with pink, swollen lips glistening with a mixture of his own spit and Simon's precome.

"I want to be inside of you." Simon admitted quietly.

"Oh," said Nathan, grinning, "you should have said."

Nathan stood up and went back to the bed, pulling his jumpsuit and his pants around his ankles and getting down on his hands and knees, ass facing Simon.

Waiting for him to sink his hard cock deep inside of him and make him come screaming out his name, not thinking for a moment that anything could be wrong.

Simon looked over Nathan looking completely hot, but this wasn't what he wanted.

He slowly shed his clothes until he was standing naked, before he walked over to the bed, he put his hands around Nathan's calves and slowly tugged his clothes off of him, Nathan looked behind him to see himself being stripped.

Gently, Simon flipped Nathan over and crawled between his legs until they were facing each other, Nathan didn't think he'd even been handled so delicately in his life.

Nathan's eyes were inquisitive as he clasped his arms around Simon's neck, Simon smiled reassuringly as he leant forward and kissed Nathan so softly and so passionately that Nathan moaned softly into his mouth.

This was when Simon loved Nathan the most, when all the pretence fell away and he showed his weak side, which made him the strongest he ever was.

The pair still stared at each other as Simon reached over to the left side of the bed where he kept the condoms, but stopped when Nathan's hand snaked out and stopped him.

"Wait," said Nathan, his beautiful Irish lilt breathless, Simon looked to see that Nathan's eyes were sparkling. "Don't use one this time."

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah," he smiled slightly, "I don't plan on having sex with anyone other than you for the rest of my life."

Simon had to duck his head down for a moment as he was hit with both an intense guilt at that statement and an intense pleasure as Nathan had basically just told him he loved him for the first time.

Of course Nathan had told him he loved him a million times in the past but this was the very first time, the one he had missed before.

Simon slowly retracted his hand from the side and entwined his fingers with Nathan's, pressing his pale hand into the sheets.

Nathan let out a strangled whimper as he felt Simon's unsheathed cock move inside of him for the first time, he felt like his entire body was on fire.

He looked up to see Simon's eyes were squeezed shut, but only for a moment,

He opened his eyes and they were alive with an emotion Nathan could only call love and it both amazed him and terrified him at the same time.

Simon gathered Nathan up in his arms as he continued to fuck him slowly, no...this wasn't fucking.

Simon was making love to Nathan, for the first time, the last time all at the same time.

Nathan didn't tell Simon to go faster or harder, this slow, excruciating pace was taking him apart, he felt like he was living in stringed out bliss that would last forever.

However, he eventually came, his come splattering the pair of them and Nathan moaned softly as Simon continued to stroke into him, clenching his ass over and over again until he felt Simon's hot, perfect come fill him up.

He let out a strangled moan whilst Simon breathlessly called out his name.

Nathan looked up and took Simon's face into his hands and kissed his skin softly, feeling wrapped up in him.

He felt Simon leave his body and the pair merely collapsed onto the bed without bothering to clean anything up. The feeling of the cooling come drip from his sensitive hole was both tickling and arousing, but he was too tired to do anything about it.

Here in Simon's warm arms, Nathan could do nothing to fight unconsciousness, he vaguely thought he heard Simon whisper how much he loved him into his ear but couldn't be sure it actually happened as he drifted off to sleep, the most content he had ever been in his entire life.


	6. Chapter 6

Nathan zipped up his jumpsuit, checking his appearance out in the mirror in the locker room.

He couldn't help but think about how the last night's activities had involved this particular item of clothing, and grinned as he thought that it would definitely need to make a reappearance.

Cocking his head slightly, Nathan wondered if Simon, the present Simon, could be having this fantasy about him jerking off and coming all over himself right now.

Overcome with giddiness, Nathan turned but Simon was not looking at him, he wasn't even looking in his general direction.

Nathan grinned nonetheless, the boy was certainly discreet.

…

"Nathan, come and push this, will you?"

Nathan laughed loudly and turned to the source of the noise, Kelly was leaning against the large container she had to push around the estate where they deposited the rubbish they found.

"Not a chance." He said, and she gave him the finger.

"Umm, guys." Came the voice of Curtis up ahead.

Nathan turned to see a man standing by his car, he didn't know why Curtis wanted to draw attention to him, he didn't look particularly exciting.

That was before, however, Nathan noticed the man was holding a small, black gun and was pointing it directly at them.

"I don't want a fuss," said the man, in a Northern accent. Gesturing with his gun, Nathan really wished he was a little more careful with that thing, although he couldn't die he was sure being shot wasn't very fun.

"Just gimme your cash, and we'll be done here."

They all looked at each other, unsure of what to do, you always heard of muggings going on around the estate, but ever since they had all been plagued by that storm, the normal things had taken a back seat, so now that it was staring them in the face, they all had no idea what to do.

"Listen," said Simon suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. He walked closer to the Northern man, holding his hands out in front of him. "Just stay calm, you don't need to hurt anyone."

_Jesus fucking Christ_. Nathan thought to himself, Barry was fucking brave, maybe there was more of the future Simon in him than Nathan had thought.

In one swift movement, the Northern man grabbed who was closest to him, that happened to be Alisha, she let out a straggled yelp as the gun was pushed unceremoniously to her temple.

She had shock in her eyes, not just for the gun, but for the fact that the man was grasping at her bare arm and nothing was happening.

Kelly sent a warning look to Nathan who stared back inquisitively.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "I can't hear what he's thinking!" She said out loud.

The gunman laughed. "What, you really think your powers are going to work on me?"

Alisha let out a helpless moan and Simon let out a surprised squeak.

"All right," said Nathan, "you know about the storm, great. What do you want?"

"I want the money." He replied, stony.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Listen, you might not have noticed, but we're a group of young offenders on a council estate, we don't have an money."

"Bullshit!" The gun man shouted, shoving the gun roughly against Alisha's head, who was starting to cry at this point, Nathan winced.

"If you've got powers, you've got cash." He said, nice logic.

He moved the gun so it was pointing at the group, near Simon, Nathan found himself itching to get near to him, nervous that the gun was so close to him.

The gun man threw Alisha back to the group in the direction of Nathan who had to twist his long body to avoid touching her skin, he ended up grabbing her around her clothed waist to steady her and she clung to the front of his jumpsuit, sobbing quietly.

"It's okay," he said quietly to her.

"Thanks," she choked out, Curtis walked slowly over to the pair and took Alisha out of Nathan's arms and comforted her.

They all jerked in shock at the sound of a gun shot, they looked towards the gun man who was pointing his weapon into the air. A warning shot.

"Bring £20,000 to the community centre by midnight or you're all dead." He said, and with that, he got into his car and drove off.

They all walked slowly back to the community centre, abandoning the dustcart.

They sat Alisha down in the hall of the centre, Kelly stroking her back soothingly with Curtis and Simon surrounding her.

Nathan walked over to the group and handed Alisha a steaming mug of tea.

"Thanks," she said, "why are you being so nice?"

"I can be nice sometimes," he merely replied.

"So, what are we going to do?" Asked Simon quietly.

There was silence until Curtis let out an irritated huff. "Where is that guy in the mask when you need him?"

Nathan rolled his eyes, "come on, you can't expect him to save your arse all the time, he's probably busy."

Nathan knew that this was the sort of thing Simon could handle, but he didn't want him anywhere near this danger, he wanted him jumping off buildings somewhere else. Safe.

Kelly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Nathan's right. We need to sort this one out for ourselves."

"But that guy knew we had powers!" Alisha piped up, voice still shaking slightly. "Like he could sense it or something."

"Your power didn't work on him," said Simon, sounding more confident. "Or yours," he said, turning to Kelly. "He seems to be immune to all powers as well, which makes him indestructible."

The weight of his words left everyone silent for moment.

"But we don't have any money to give him," said Curtis after a moment, sounding desperate.

"Well, we must have something!" Alisha responded.

"I was wondering what I was going to do with all of that money in my Swedish bank accounts," said Nathan sarcastically.

Alisha glared at him. "I guess you're back to being a prick."

"I have my moments."

Kelly shoved him slightly, "will you guys stop fighting? We need to do something!"

"Look-" began Nathan, walking so he faced all of them. "Why don't you just leave this to me? He'll come and I'll tell him we don't have the money and he'll kill me, think he's got his revenge, then move on."

Before he could say anything else, Kelly slapped him around the head.

Nathan grabbed his stinging head, ducking away from Kelly. "Ow, why do you keep hitting me?"

"Didn't you listen to Simon?" She shouted at him, "this bloke's immune to powers, which means that if he kills you, you could actually die."

Nathan stared at her for a moment until he practically flopped onto the floor with the rest of them. "What the fuck are we supposed to do, then?"

Simon stared at Nathan's jumpsuit inquisitively. "What's that on your jumpsuit?" He asked, and Nathan didn't have to look to know what he was talking about.

Nathan waggled his eyebrows at him. "What do you think it is?" He said.

Simon continued to stare at him in confusion and Nathan looked away, allowing himself a little giggle before the room fell silent again.

"So, how are we supposed to get this money?"

"We could rob a bank." Said Simon quietly, in that usual way he said things like he wasn't joking.

"How are we supposed to rob a bank?" Asked Nathan, trying to keep the cynicism out of his voice. He was trying his best to be kinder to Simon but every now and then he did slip up.

Simon turned to look at him with a glint in his eye that was all too familiar. "I can turn invisible." He reminded the group.

"It would never work." Said Curtis after a moment, "we don't have enough time. Maybe we should just leave?"

"How are we supposed to just leave?" Asked Alisha, "we've got family here."

"And community service," chipped in Kelly.

"I don't know, maybe..."

Nathan stood, allowing the group to continue talking whilst he walked slowly to the window, trying to look outside without drawing attention to himself.

Despite the fact that he wanted to keep Simon out of this, he couldn't help hoping he would turn up out of the blue.

Nathan took his phone out of his pocket, but stopped himself before he could call Simon.

"I think we should rob a bank."

Nathan turned around to find that Alisha had said this.

"But...I thought you said it wouldn't work?" Said Simon timidly.

"I think we should, too." Agreed Nathan, and they all turned to look at him. "What?" He asked.

"Why are you agreeing with me?" Asked Simon, and Nathan didn't have an answer. He supposed he was just so desperate for his Simon to be here that he got confused.

"I think we should just do something!" Nathan replied defensively, turning back to the window.

…

"Why do you keep looking outside?" Asked Kelly, Nathan turned to her.

They were all seated in Alisha's car, driving towards the bank and Nathan couldn't believe they were actually doing this, this was the sort of shit that happened in films, not real life.

Then again, their lives were more like a film than real life.

"No reason," Nathan answered, but he wished he would see that familiar black against the sky.

Alisha parked the car and they all looked out to see a lorry outside of the bank, there were men carrying timelocked suitcases of money into the back entrance of the bank.

"Good luck," said Curtis in Simon's general direction.

Simon nodded once and suddenly his head began to shake violently, and then he was no longer there. They all watched as the door opened and Simon, presumably, got out of the car.

Did Simon still have his power? The thought had never occurred to Nathan, he'd never even asked.

He turned when Kelly nudged him. "You all right?" She asked quietly, "you seem a bit out of it."

Nathan nodded but she still look concerned. "I guess I just don't like the fact there's someone out there that can kill me." He said.

She nodded, it was partly true.

Alisha yelped in shock as Simon reappeared in his seat, holding one of the suitcases.

"How was it?" Asked Kelly.

"Surprisingly easy." Simon answered.

They travelled back to the community centre in silence.

…

They all sat in the hall of the community centre, waiting. Conversation had died down a long time ago as they had all run out of things to talk about.

They had dealt with enough at this point that the threat of death wasn't that intimidating, but there was still that sense of fear hanging in the air.

Alisha yawned from across the room and Nathan checked the time on his Ipod.

11:47pm.

He would be here soon.

Nathan put his Ipod back into his pocket, trying not to shift too much as Kelly was resting her head on his shoulder.

His eyes lingered on her for a moment, she was in danger now too, it wasn't just him. Plus, she had never been immortal in the first place.

Nathan wondered if anything would have happened between them if Simon hadn't come along. But Simon had come along and he'd changed everything.

Kelly's head moved from Nathan's shoulder at the sound of broken glass, it was obvious who had just arrived.

They all stood and faced the door as the gunman walked in, brandishing said weapon.

"We have your money." Said Simon, fear in his eyes, as he picked up the timelocked suit case and put it on the floor.

Keeping his eyes on him, the gunman walked forward and retrieved the suitcase.

Nathan's eyes darted around the room.

The gunman put the suitcase behind him and lifted his gun to Nathan, whose eyes widened.

"I think I'll start with the cocky shit." Said the gunman in his Northern accent.

"No!" Shouted Kelly, "you said you'd leave us alone!"

But Nathan barely heard her, he was feeling fear, genuine, proper fear for the first time in a long time and he did the only thing he could think of.

He ran.

Nathan skid round a corner and out of the main hall as fast as his legs could carry him, which was pretty fast.

He could hear shouting behind him and after a moment he heard the thud of footsteps but didn't allow himself to slow down.

Just breathe...He tried to tell himself, he had to stay calm or he wasn't going to survive.

He could hear the footsteps getting louder, the gunman was running now, too.

The only small comfort Nathan could take out of his situation was that at least he was leading him away from his friends.

Maybe that was the first kind thing he'd ever done for them.

Nathan turned a corner, too preoccupied in his thoughts and came to a skidding halt.

He was stood before a fire exit door, a dead end. He cursed himself and turned around only to see the gunman standing there, blocking his way out.

Swearing loudly, Nathan turned back to the fire exit and pushed on it but it wouldn't open. He tried pushing again, harder and harder, but the thing would not budge.

"You're not going anywhere." Came that insane Northern accent.

Nathan swallowed, feeling that intense dread going through his veins again. He had so many mixed emotions, like how did the only guy that could possibly kill him manage to decide to kill him? Or why did he deserve this? Or what was going to happen to everyone he left behind?

Nathan turned slowly and winced as he heard the gun shot.

But nothing happened. At least not to him.

Nathan watched as the bullet merely stopped, mid flight, hanging completely motionless in the air.

The gunman stared in confusion, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be killing Nathan.

"What the fuck?" He said.

Then, Nathan watched in absolute horror as blood began to clot around the bullet, bleeding out through the air.

Then the space between Nathan and the gunman became solid, there stood Simon, clad in his ski gear with the bullet embedded deeply in his chest.

"Noooo!" Screamed Nathan, as Simon raised his gloved hand with a gun of his own, and shot the stunned gunman through the neck.

He fell to the floor, gargling, but Nathan couldn't give a single fuck as the body of Simon staggered back and fell against him, sending them both to the ground.

Nathan dragged Simon into his lap, ripping the ski mask from his face to reveal a pair of startling eyes wide open and dried blood at his mouth.

"No, no, no..." Nathan muttered, unaware that silent tears were falling from his eyes. He saw the blood pooling at Simon's stomach. "No, no, no..."

Simon reached up and stroked the side of Nathan's face, smiling slightly at him with what little strength he had left.

"Hey," he began gently, "it's okay."

Nathan shook his head as he began to gently cradle Simon. "No, no, this can't be happening."

Simon winced in pain and Nathan let out a strangled cry, but Simon's eyes didn't leave Nathan's once.

"Things need to happen in a specific order," he explained in a breathy voice. "...So that you can be saved."

Nathan stopped shaking for a moment as things began to click in his muddled brain, he began to cry again. "So you knew?" He said through sobs, "you knew this was going to happen." It wasn't a question but Simon nodded anyway.

"Why!?" Nathan shouted, "Why didn't you just let me die!? Let me die, not you!"

Simon's hand on Nathan's cheek began to rub soft circles on his skin like they would when they were falling asleep together, so wrapped up in their love that nothing else mattered.

Nathan closed his eyes and sobbed into the movement, knowing he would never feel this safe again.

"Because it never got any easier." Simon replied quietly, by now his face had gone a ghostly pale and Nathan knew what death looked like.

Nathan shook his head, simply denying death. "You can't die," he began, "you can't die because I love you."

A ghostly smile formed on Simon's face. "I'll still be here."

Nathan shook his head. "No, no, you won't. I don't love him, I love you. Please."

"It's you, remember that." Said Simon, "it's your love that makes him become me."

Nathan let out a wail, he couldn't help it. "So I make you die."

Simon shook his head, but he looked like he was in pain doing it, like the smallest movement took all his effort. "No, you just give me something worth dying for."

"But you can't go," Nathan sobbed, his grip on Simon becoming tighter. "You can't, you took the shitty pieces of my life and you put them back together, you can't take that away."

"I'm not taking that away." Simon explained, pulling out a box of matches from his jacket. The tears stopped for a moment as Nathan regarded the box, knowing what Simon was going to say to him before he said it.

"You need to burn us both," Nathan shook his head but Simon grabbed his hand. "No, Nathan, you need to burn us both, no one can know about this, especially Simon."

Nathan shook his head again. "No, no, I can't."

Simon pressed the box of matches into his hand. "You have too," he stroked along the side of Nathan's face, cold fingers brushing over his lips.

"It's going to be okay." He promised quietly before the light left his eyes and he slumped backwards against Nathan.

Nathan stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before him, before he slowly lowered his head and rested his forehead against Simon's cold one.

The entire world seemed to stop for a moment until Nathan let out one scream of complete agony.

Numbly, Nathan lit a clump of matches and flung them on the floor, not looking at the blaze that burned behind him as he walked away.

He never even checked if the gunman was dead.

He walked back to the group, his footsteps echoing in his head, it was the only sound he could hear.

When he reached them, they all stood immediately, but Nathan didn't look at Simon once.

"What happened?" Asked Curtis urgently, "we heard gun shots, and screaming."

"I got the gun," began Nathan, "I killed him, it's dealt with." Nathan's voice was hollow and empty and Kelly could swear he had dried tear stains on his face, but could hear nothing from his mind.

"Are you okay?" Asked Simon, for a moment it seemed like Nathan didn't even acknowledge him, but after a moment he merely shook his head.

He walked slowly out of the door of the community centre, they tried to call out to him but their shouts fell on deaf ears.

Concerned, Simon went to follow him but Kelly reached out a hand and held him back, believing that if he was in pain, he'd rather be with that boyfriend of his than with Simon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello all, sorry I haven't updated in a while, I can't express how UNBELIEVABLY SWAMPED I have been with exam prep lately, seriously, it's scary. Thank you everyone for sticking with this story and for all your amazing reviews, it really means the world to me x

They didn't seen Nathan over the weekend, they had tried to text him at various stages, to invite him out, but had gotten no reply.

On Monday morning, everyone was stood in the locker room getting changed, except Nathan.

"Do you think he's going to show?" Asked Alisha.

Kelly shrugged, but she had worry in her eyes.

"Hold on." Said Curtis warningly, they all looked to see Nathan walk into the locker room. He looked tired, but otherwise okay.

He walked straight to his locker, seemingly unaware of the others staring at him.

They all watched as Nathan opened his locker door and took out his jumpsuit, he seemed to get changed with less of his usual flair, something they hadn't noticed until now.

Nathan stopped for a minute and then turned to see them all staring at him, Alisha, Curtis, and Simon immediately looked away but Kelly continued to stare at Nathan, her eyes opened with concerned, Nathan merely looked at her before turning back around.

His mind was unusually silent.

The next day, Nathan spoke, it wasn't much, all he did was ask Curtis to pass the paint, but it was more than the previous day.

The third day, Nathan walked by the group who were eating at one of the benches, Alisha called out for Nathan to come and join them, he gently declined with almost a ghost of a smile before he walked away, to be alone again.

That was pretty much how the next few weeks went, no one got a word out of Nathan except for when he needed to speak to them, he spent all of his time alone and was...fucking heartbroken.

But no one knew why, Kelly thought that maybe it had something to do with that boyfriend of his, but didn't want to bring it up, it was probably the last thing he needed.

…

Nathan leant against the doorway to the community centre, looking out across the estate.

The rest of them were out eating lunch somewhere, but Nathan couldn't bring himself to join them.

He knew it was ridiculous, he knew he was acting like a crazy person and the worst bit was that no one knew why he was acting like a crazy person.

No, the worst bit was that he had no one to talk to.

Simon, his Simon had made him promise not to tell anyone anything, but he must have known how destroyed Nathan would be after he did.

But then again, how could he have known?

Nathan was so used to Simon having all the answers, he'd actually begun to blame Simon for the way he was feeling, but how could he have known?

How could he have known how much Nathan loved him, he was always so damn cocky and withdrawn with his emotions...

But now, he had nothing...he'd lost the only thing that made him whole.

…

Simon was sat alone, eating lunch quietly outside the community centre, he didn't know where the others were but they never really hung out anyway.

He glanced up momentarily and did a double take as he noticed Nathan walking over to him.

Simon watched in silence as Nathan sat down opposite Simon and smiled slightly at him.

"Hello." He said.

Simon, unsure of what to say, tried to smile back. "Hello, Nathan."

Nathan glanced down at the bottle of water he was holding and began fiddling with the paper label before looking back up to Simon.

He looked a little strained. "How are you?" He asked.

"Um, okay." Simon answered, nodding, trying to hide his confusion.

Nathan nodded too, quickly, like he was embarrassed with himself. "That's good," said Nathan quietly, like he was talking to himself.

Simon couldn't shake this feeling that Nathan was struggling with something, it kind of looked like he was in pain just talking.

But, aside from that, it was nice to see Nathan talking to someone for once, making contact, at least.

"How are you?" Asked Simon, playing with his ignored food.

Nathan shrugged and frowned to himself. "I dunno." He answered truthfully.

Simon cleared his throat. "You seem a little lonely," he admitted, hoping maybe he could get Nathan to talk.

But Nathan merely smiled at him sadly before standing, he gave Simon a little wave before he walked away.

…

It was when Simon was walking back to his house that Nathan joined him again.

He was walking alone out of the door of the community centre when Nathan appeared as he had done earlier and began to walk with him.

Simon had said "hello" but Nathan hadn't responded, he had barely acknowledged that Simon was there.

The only way Simon could be sure that Nathan meant to be with him was that he was walking in the direction of his house.

When they had finally reached Simon's house, Simon had turned to Nathan and tentatively invited him inside but Nathan had quickly shook his head, like he had finally come back to himself, and turned and hurried away.

All Simon could think about was how Nathan must have gravitated to him in whatever grief he was going through.

Simon supposed he'd have to be there for him when he needed him, that's what friends were for.

Hadn't he told Nathan once that he'd felt like Nathan was his only friend?

Well, now it looked like he was Nathan's only friend.

He opened his front door.

…

"Thanks," said Simon as he accepted the drink Nathan handed him.

"No problem," said Nathan quietly, sitting down next to him on the mattress in the community centre.

Nathan looked at Simon and Simon smiled at him, Nathan looked away to make sure Simon couldn't see him and scrunched his eyes up in pain.

He couldn't help but be forcefully reminded of the time his Simon had sat there, he couldn't quite remember what they had been talking about, but he remembered Simon coming out of the darkness and knocking him over when he was coming back from taking a pee, and the only reason he'd been there was because he was worried about Nathan...

He felt tears squeeze from his eyes and suddenly deeply regretted having Simon sit next to him, this poor imitation, this...

"Nathan..."

Nathan froze as he felt Simon's hand on his skin, his touch was warm and reassuring and everything he remembered.

He wanted to cry again, but he didn't, he turned to face the man.

Simon looked concerned, his brow was furrowed in that way Nathan remembered, he was almost a complete copy of the Simon that had been here that night.

There was something oddly comforting about that.

"Nathan," began Simon, retracting his hand, he took a deep breath. "Come on, Nathan, what's wrong?"

Nathan smiled sadly, something Simon noticed he did a lot now.

"Nothing." Nathan answered. "Just...thanks for being a friend."

Simon left shortly after that and as he was walking home he was left alone with his thoughts, he couldn't help but think about how his attitude to Nathan had softened lately, he'd always liked Nathan, he was his friend and if Simon was honest with himself he'd had a slight crush on him.

But lately, Nathan had been so wounded and vulnerable that Simon had felt unreasonably protective of him and wanted to be there for him.

…

"You are never gonna believe what just happened to us." Said Curtis in the locker room.

"What do you mean?" Asked Kelly.

"Something happened to us, but I rewound time and now we're back here."

Alisha shook her head. "What happened?"

"Like, people with powers started to become famous, and we became famous and we were rich and on TV and everything, but then there was this guy who could control milk and he killed you all, but he didn't kill me, and I rewound time."

"What?" Asked Simon after a moment.

"Oh my God!" Kelly exclaimed.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Exclaimed Alisha.

Nathan, however, didn't say a word. Which was strange considering he'd been coming out of his shell so much lately and tentatively talking to people.

"I think we need to go out for a drink," suggested Alisha, "so you can tell us more about this freaky milk guy."

"Tell me about it," Curtis agreed, slinging his jacket over his shoulder and heading out, Alisha and Kelly following closely behind.

"Nathan?" Asked Simon, as he hadn't moved from his locker. "You coming?"

"Oh, I'm okay." Nathan said, smiling slightly and turning back to his locker.

Alisha put a hand on Simon's arm. "Come on, let's go." She smiled at him, everyone was being kinder to him lately, he nodded and followed her out.

"Hey, I might actually stay home too," said Kelly, "I'm dead tired."

"All right," said Curtis, while the rest of them walked out.

Simon turned to see Kelly walk over to Nathan. "Hey," she said quietly to him, "mind if I stay here with you?"

After a moment, Nathan nodded. "Sure." He said.

Simon looked around to see Curtis and Alisha were already gone, they would never have even noticed he was there anyway, and he quietly turned invisible and followed Kelly and Nathan back inside.

He knew he shouldn't be spying, but there was something about Nathan that brought a genuine concern out in him, he wanted to make sure he was okay.

Simon sat gingerly down next to Nathan and Kelly in the hall of the community centre, they were silent for a moment until Kelly spoke.

"Okay, I'm just going to come out with it," she said, "has the way you've been acting got anything to do with your boyfriend?"

Simon nearly knocked the chair over. Nathan had a boyfriend?

But his shock at that dissipated as he watched a single tear slide down Nathan's cheek, it made his heart jerk.

"He died, Kelly." Said Nathan, voice heavy.

"Oh, God, Nathan." Said Kelly in a comforting voice, genuinely shocked. "I'm so sorry."

"I just...I don't know what to do." Nathan admitted, more tears flowing, "I loved him, he was the first person I loved and now he's fucking gone..."

Simon watched as Kelly hugged Nathan and wished sorely that he could reach out and comfort him too.

There was something deeply distressing about seeing Nathan in this kind of pain. It was so raw and nothing Simon was used to, especially coming from this strong, quite literally indestructible person.

Nathan cried for quite some time, and it was a fresh kind of agony to be sat there watching him.

Simon couldn't help but think that Kelly was doing an inadequate job of looking after him, like he was the one who should have been doing it, like it was his job, except it wasn't and he had no idea why he was feeling otherwise.

It must have been nearly half an hour later when the tears finally dried out and Nathan was merely leaning his head on Kelly's shoulder, silent.

"Things are going to get better." She assured him.

"How?" Nathan asked dismally, Kelly cast her eyes down at him.

"Well, for one thing," she began, "community service is gonna be over in a couple of months."

Nathan sat up straight. "Yeah, that's going to be weird."

Kelly frowned. "What do you mean?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. Getting back to life, wondering what comes next. One time Simon, our Simon, told me that picking up litter was the best time of his life."

Kelly laughed and put her arms around Nathan, holding him tightly. "It's going to be okay." She said quietly, whilst Simon stared at Nathan, having no memory of ever saying that to him.

Soon after that, Kelly left but Simon stayed, invisible, at Nathan's side.

He didn't know what he was doing, aside being really stalker-y, but he knew something strange was going on.

He hadn't said anything to Nathan about litter, he knew it, so what was Nathan talking about?

Simon watched him, asleep and peaceful, no longer plagued by the grief he'd been feeling due to his dead boyfriend.

Simon shook his head, he'd had no idea, none of them had except Kelly, he'd really hidden it well, Nathan was stronger than Simon had thought.

Simon had never realised it before, sure he thought Nathan was attractive, but there was a sort of beauty about him.

He could see it now, as he watched Nathan's chest rise and fall, he looked ghostly pale in the light and the shadows over his limbs made him look willowy, like some kind of supernatural creature.

Simon sat there and stared for what must have been half an hour before he realised how much time had passed.

Despite all the pain and despite all the confusion, Simon felt his eyes begin to soften, and realised he hadn't felt this content in years.


	8. Chapter 8

Simon stayed the entire night, invisible of course, but he didn't want to leave Nathan on his own.

He looked so peaceful, so painless and Simon couldn't help but think that it had something to do with his presence, that maybe Nathan unconsciously knew that he had a friend watching over him.

He knew the idea was ludicrous but he wanted to believe it.

He awoke to the sound of muted breathing and, glancing over his shoulder, realised that Nathan was still asleep, except the pitch of his breathing had changed.

Blinking, Simon could see the light spilling in through the windows. Checking his phone, he saw that it was only 7am.

Simon swivelled his head to the sound of a quiet gasp, he saw Nathan, awake now, looking shocked and confused.

At least that explained why his breathing had begun to quicken. Simon wondered how many times Nathan had relived the death of his boyfriend in his head.

Simon decided that now was the time to leave, he had dwelled here too long and wanted to give Nathan some privacy.

Standing up, Simon made to move away, feeling the familiar blush creep onto his cheeks as he began to feel guilty about spending the night with Nathan.

Now realising that he had done nothing to alleviate his friends' grief, Nathan would never even know he was there.

"Jesus." Came a soft voice from behind him, Simon swivelled, momentarily worried he was no longer invisible.

But he had no reason to worry, Nathan was sat on the edge of his thin mattress, face buried in his hands. He wasn't crying, he was just still.

Precariously, Simon leant down next to Nathan, he didn't know why he was doing it, but then again he didn't know why he was doing any of it so he decided to stop questioning himself.

All of a sudden, Nathan stood and jogged down the stairs like nothing was bothering him.

Concerned, Simon followed.

 _You're a stalker_. He told himself over and over again as he followed Nathan out of the community centre and down the road, never taking his eyes off of his back.

 _I just need to make sure he's okay_. Another voice argued, and Simon choose to listen to his voice.

Besides, Nathan was acting strangely. Every few minutes, he would turn and look behind him, almost like he was checking that no one was following him.

Every time he did, Simon instinctively stiffened despite the fact he knew Nathan had no idea he was there. What he would do to him if he did...

Curiosity burned inside of Simon as he followed Nathan, still looking over his shoulder, down a flight of stairs beside a car park down into a kind of warehouse.

_What...?_

Simon watched as Nathan took out a key and slid it into the lock of a big, grey, metal door.

Simon wondered what Nathan had down there. Storage space? But what for?

But instead of a door opening into a room, the door parted to reveal a small, badly kept lift which Nathan stepped into without faltering.

Quickly, so as not to get left behind, Simon slipped into the lift before the doors closed.

Nathan slipped the key back into his pocket and breathed heavily.

Simon's own breath began to quicken, as did his heart rate. This proximity to Nathan was dangerous, if he so much as accidentally brushed against him Nathan would know he was there, but also...being so close to Nathan made him feel guilty.

It made him feel guilty about having feelings for someone grieving for their lost love.

The lift doors finally opened and Simon let out a silent sigh of relief as Nathan stepped out.

Simon took a moment to register his surroundings. It was a large, open-planned warehouse type room, grey and surprisingly well lit.

Despite everything, it looked like...well, Simon couldn't put it any other way, it looked like a living space.

There was no denying it, there was a kitchen in the far corner and near the door, dominating most of the space was a large, grey bed.

Simon watched as Nathan crossed to the aforementioned bed and flopped onto it, face first, pulling one of the pillows to him for comfort.

Tearing his eyes away, Simon walked around the space, taking everything in. It looked like a living space and work space all meshed into one.

Did it belong to Nathan? And if it did, why did he need so many clocks?

Curious, Simon looked back to Nathan to see he hadn't moved from his position on the bed, and he walked towards the clocks.

But it wasn't only clocks littered on the walls, all displaying different times, but there was also paper and photographs stuck to wall in a sort of messy order.

It was the photographs that caught his eye, they were of them, of all of them, himself and Alisha and Curtis and Kelly...but they weren't taken by friends and family, they were from afar, like they were taken from security cameras or something. Like someone was spying on them.

Simon went to turn back to Nathan, still slumped on the bed with his eyes closed, and ask him what this was all about, why he was spying on them, but then something caught his eye.

It was a cluster of photographs, all of the same type as the rest of them, but they were of Nathan. Nathan couldn't be spying on himself, what the hell was going on?

The more Simon looked, the more he noticed that the photos of Nathan almost dominated the left side of the wall, whoever was doing this must have been obsessed with him.

_Simon...?_

In an instant, Simon was visible again. He couldn't take this, he didn't understand what was going on. Had Nathan told his boyfriend about their powers? Were they in danger?

"What is going on?" He asked, trying his best to sound confident.

Nathan's head shot up and he looked behind him to see Simon standing there, staring at him, eyes burning.

It took all Nathan had not to squeak. Partially because he was shocked and angry that Simon had followed him here, invaded his personal space so violently. But also because in that second, with those eyes, Simon looked exactly like _his_ Simon, like he was back again. And it hurt.

Nathan pushed himself off of the bed, confusion in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?" He asked, trying to summon some anger into his voice, trying in vain to treat this Simon the way he had always treated him, but he just couldn't.

"Nathan, what have you been keeping from us?" Simon asked with the same determination.

Simon waited for Nathan to strike, even if it was just verbally, but he didn't.

Nathan just stood there, staring at him like a wounded animal before he slowly lowered himself back onto the bed, sinking into the edge and letting his head fall into his hands.

"Nathan?" Asked Simon slowly, all anger draining from his voice as he walked slowly over to him. Simon stood awkwardly in front of him, not saying a word, but Nathan didn't raise his head.

He wasn't shaking, so Simon was pretty sure he wasn't crying, but he was still in bad shape.

Simon felt all that emotion from the previous night flood back into him, everything he had felt, that need to protect Nathan.

After a moment, he spoke.

"I'm sorry." Said Simon softly, "I'm sorry I followed you here."

After a few moments, Nathan finally looked up, his hands falling into his lap.

He looked so vulnerable in that moment, his usually sparkling eyes had lost their mirth, he was suddenly so much more humble than he had ever been and yet all Simon could think about was how much he wished the old Nathan were back.

He just wanted Nathan to make a joke at his expense and call him Barry and then poddle off to talk to one of his real friends.

But that didn't happen, Nathan just continued to stare at him with that wounded innocence that made Simon want to curl up into a ball.

"Nathan, what...?" But Simon let the sentence trail off, he just wanted Nathan to say something. Anything.

Nathan looked down and murmured something so quietly that Simon didn't hear him.

"What?" He asked.

Nathan looked back up to him, their eyes locking together. "It was you."

"What?" Simon repeated, confused. "What was me?"

Nathan closed his eyes for a second and it looked like he took a deep breath before he opened them again and gestured to wall with the photographs and clocks.

"This place," he began, "this place belonged to the guy in the mask." Nathan explained, "and he was you."

Simon couldn't speak for a moment, he momentarily wondered if Nathan was completely mentally sound. "Nathan, I'm not the guy in the mask."

"No, you're not, but he was."

"Nathan, I'm really confused..."

"You travelled back from the future, you came back to save me, to save us all."

This was insane, Simon knew it was, but why would Nathan make it up, why would he say all this stuff if it wasn't real?

"Are you...telling the truth?" Simon asked quietly, a million and one things going through his mind but at the same time it was strangely blank.

"So, I come back from the future, somehow with the knowledge of everything that's going to happen, and I run around saving everyone?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Nathan replied, "I mean, it was a little more grand than that."

Simon shook his head, Nathan looked concerned. "Don't you believe me?" He asked.

"I believe you," said Simon quietly after a moment, "it's just, of all the things that you could have just said to me, that was the weirdest."

A small smile ghosted over Nathan's lips and he closed his eyes again, only for moment, like he had to keep taking breaks so he wouldn't get too overwhelmed.

"You didn't just say everyone though, did you?" Simon asked rhetorically. "You said you," he turned slightly to face Nathan, "you said I came back to save you."

Nathan sighed, he supposed the cat was out of the bag now so he might as well just tell him. "Yeah, you did. That guy...remember, that northern guy that was immune to powers?"

Simon nodded. "Yeah, that was the day you changed," he admitted, "the day you killed him."

"I didn't kill him." Nathan admitted softly.

Simon stared at him. "I did?"

Nathan nodded.

Simon looked to the floor, already knowing what was coming before he said it.

"What happened to me?"

Nathan didn't answer for a moment and when Simon looked at him he saw Nathan's eyes filled with tears and all that did was confirm what had happened.

"You died." Said Nathan after a moment, quickly scrubbing the tears away. "You were invisible, I had no idea you were there, until he shot..."

"But," began Simon, confused. "If that guy was immune to powers then how was I invisible? Why didn't he see me?"

Nathan shrugged. "Maybe he did see you, maybe he didn't care. I don't know, I don't particularly care, either."

There was something hollow in the way Nathan spoke, his eyes were red because of the tears.

"You were more than just friends, weren't you?" Asked Simon.

Nathan nodded but didn't look at him. "When I first met him, he told me that we fell in love somehow, and we got together."

Simon couldn't help but notice that Nathan always referred to the other Simon as "him" instead of "you", because he viewed them as two separate entities, he had feelings for that Simon, not this one.

"I don't believe it," said Simon after a moment, talking more to himself than to Nathan.

Nathan stared at him. "Why not?" He asked, no malice in his voice, no confusion, just simple questioning.

"It's just...he was...me," began Simon, "he was me, he was this," he gestured to himself, "how did you ever...for this...?"

Nathan looked down. "He was...a little different to you."

Simon choose to ignore that, another question already circling in his mind. "Did my future self love you?" He asked.

"Yeah," Nathan replied in a hollow voice.

"And did you love...him?"

"Yes."

Simon continued to stand awkwardly, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. "How did I travel back?" He asked, trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

Nathan smiled lightly as he remembered himself doing the same thing when Simon first told him he fell in love with him.

"I don't really know," Nathan admitted quietly, "I mean I never asked, I was always too busy acting like a love sick teenager." He swallowed. "All I know is that he said specific things needed to happen at specific times," he gestured vaguely towards the clocks on the walls that were no longer ticking. "That's what all these were for."

Simon stared quizzically at Nathan before he walked over to the bed and sunk down next to him, Nathan didn't look at him.

"So, you had to go through all of it, me dying and everything...on your own?" He asked quietly.

Nathan looked up at him, smiling slightly. "That's not entirely true though, having you around helped me a lot."

Simon smiled back at him before he lapsed back into thought. "So, we end up together then?" He asked bluntly and Nathan nearly laughed.

"Yeah, looks like it." Nathan replied.

"I never saw that one coming." Said Simon, running a hand through his hair.

"Me neither, future you practically had to batter it into me."

Simon snorted. "That doesn't sound like me."

Nathan stared at him for a moment. "Well, you're a lot different then. I mean, now, I mean..."

"I know what you mean." Simon said quietly. "I was more comfortable around you."

Nathan nodded. "You were more comfortable about everything." He smiled shallowly. "You said being with me made you that way."

Simon caught Nathan's eye and suddenly the pair were staring at each other.

Simon could see the same beauty in Nathan's face that he saw last night.

Without thinking, Simon leant forward and kissed Nathan.

Nathan let out a surprised moan at the contact.

Simon meant to pull away but he stayed for a moment, liking the way Nathan's warm lips moved against his own.

When he pulled away, he wasn't expecting to see tears in Nathan's eyes.

"Oh, Nathan...I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me..."

Nathan shook his head and quickly scrubbed his tears away with the sleeve of his jacket.

"I'm just a little confused." He told Simon, smiling slightly through his tears. "I don't know if I'm happy or distressed."

Simon hesitated for a moment before he leant forward again and wrapped his arms around Nathan's lithe frame. Nathan seemed to melt into Simon's embrace and Simon couldn't deny that it felt right, touching Nathan, feeling his skin against his own.

"I miss you." Nathan breathed against his skin.

Simon was unsure what to do, until he felt Nathan's cheek against his own. He pulled back, catching the Irish man's blue orbs with his own.

"Is this what you want?" He asked quietly. "Do you want me?"

"I don't know." Nathan admitted, letting out a little laugh. "I don't fucking know what I want. I want this to happen because we want it to, not because it's supposed to. I want you to feel it, too."

"I..."

Nathan locked eyes with him for a moment before he leant his forehead against Simon's and breathed in deeply.

Simon's eyes fluttered shut. Nathan smelt of a mixture of mint and tobacco and their jumpsuits and everything that made him Nathan, Simon was overcome by just how familiar the smell seemed to be.

"We're a work in progress." He found himself saying against Nathan's skin.

Nathan let out a noise close to a shallow laugh, his breath tickled Simon's cheek. "We're a pretty shit work in progress." He observed. "You're shy..." His voice seemed to suddenly lose all humour. "And I'm broken."

Simon opened his eyes and moved his head away from Nathan's a fraction, causing the man to glance back up at him. "Apparently I won't be shy forever," he pointed out, repeating Nathan's words. "And you won't be broken forever," he continued softly.

Nathan smiled weakly at the man in front of him. His words sounded like a promise, and Nathan found himself wishing with all of his heart that he could believe him.

Simon's gaze wavered for a moment as something occurred to him. "What happens to you?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. "Future me came back to save you, but he must have left something behind." In that moment, it occurred to Simon that maybe it wasn't just him that got hurt in all of this, and the thought was oddly distressing.

Nathan, however, merely shrugged. As if his own fate meant nothing to him, Simon felt his own heart cracking at Nathan's disregard of himself.

"I don't know," he admitted, "I don't really want to think about it...I can't..."

Simon shook his head quickly. "I know, I know, you don't have to think about it, we don't have to think about it."

The pair locked eyes for a long moment until Nathan looked away, embarrassed and a little overwhelmed.

Simon averted his gaze and shifted slightly on the bed, he didn't want to upset Nathan or make him feel uncomfortable in anyway.

He stared at the ground, unsure as to whether or not to say anything else.

He jumped a little when he felt a slight pressure on his hand and looked down to see his and Nathan's fingers entwined between them.

He looked across to Nathan and saw him staring back, a look of gratitude in his eyes.

Simon looked back at their hands. "Your hand is so cold." He muttered quietly to himself.

"Sorry?" Asked Nathan. "Did you say something?"

Simon smiled and shook his head. "No, nothing." He answered, giving Nathan's cool hand a reassuring squeeze.

 _It'll warm up if I hold it long enough_ , he thought to himself.

And that's exactly what he did.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I mention a couple of classic TV series but I own none of them :)

The next morning, the pair of them sat outside the community centre on one of the benches, basking in the early morning sunlight.

Nathan was trailing his hand across Simon's wrist, causing Simon to suppress a grin at the pleasantly tickling sensation.

Nathan caught his concealed smile and raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked.

Simon shook his head slightly before tentatively twisting his hand around and entwining his fingers with Nathan's. The movement was loose with embarrassment so Nathan tightened his grip, reminding himself that it was him who taught future Simon how to be strong.

"This is bizarre." Simon admitted softly, staring at their hands.

"Why?" Asked Nathan, a little too preoccupied with the warm feeling in his palm, and how it made him feel.

"It's just...you know my body so well and yours is completely new to me."

Nathan smiled a little to himself before making a spectacle of retracting his hand and pointing directing at Simon.

"Listen up, I don't want any of that soppy crap." He said playfully, and Simon couldn't help laughing at the totally serious look on his face.

Nathan was becoming very pleasantly acquainted with Simon's laugh. Future Simon had laughed all the time, a strong chortling sound. Simon's was a little quieter, a little more reserved but still the same. Nathan found it completely baffling how something could be exactly the same and yet totally different at the same time.

It made his head hurt, so he chose to ignore it.

"See, you're coming out of your shell already."

Simon sobered up slightly. "So I am." He smiled nervously in response.

Their eyes met and Nathan reached his hand out and took Simon's again. "Yeah." Nathan replied quietly.

Nathan's gaze fell to a groove mark in the bench until he felt a hand against his cheek, easing his face up until he met Simon's eyes again.

"It's okay to be upset." He reminded him quietly, eyes searching his.

It made Nathan feel both special and terrible at the fact that Simon seemed to be at his most confident when he was worrying over him.

It also scared him at how easily Simon seemed to be able to read him, as well as Future Simon could, maybe that had been something that Simon hadn't learnt but something he had already been able to do.

"I said no soppy crap." Nathan reminded him quietly, a small smile playing on his lips.

Simon laughed lightly before boldly leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to Nathan's lips, and suddenly everything was alright with the world again.

They jumped apart at the sound of approaching voices, Nathan watched Simon's Adam's apple bob in embarrassment and swivelled around on his side of the bench to see Curtis and Alisha approaching, chatting together as they walked side by side.

Nathan suddenly felt a twinge of sympathy rock through him at the sight of them, at the fact that they could never touch, he suddenly felt a little guilty that he still made a big deal about holding Simon's hand.

He supposed though, even if they couldn't touch, he'd never leave Simon. Although which Simon he was talking about, he'd never know.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Asked Curtis accusingly as they approached, and Nathan felt all sympathy withdraw.

He glanced across to Simon and saw him shying away slightly at the question, he obviously didn't want anyone to know.

"Just hanging out," Nathan answered loudly, "you got a problem with that?"

"No." Curtis replied, a little taken aback by the sudden reply.

"You seem happier today." Alisha observed nonchalantly as she walked past. Nathan and Simon shared one quick glance before following them into the community centre.

…

Nathan was so preoccupied with the task at hand, namely scraping poster graffiti of an estate wall, that when he turned around he wasn't expecting to see Curtis, Alisha and Kelly staring at him.

The minute he caught their gaze they all immediately turned away and started working vigorously on their own sections of the wall as if that was all they had been doing.

Nathan blinked a few times in confusion. He turned to his other side to see Simon diligently scraping away and inched towards him. Simon looked up when he noticed Nathan suddenly at his side.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" He whispered, he whipped out his Ipod and checked his reflection.

"I think it's because you're acting more like your old self." Simon pointed out.

Nathan froze from a moment before putting his Ipod away. He sighed. "I must have been an annoying cunt when I was..." He trailed off, not really wanting to go there again.

"You weren't, everyone gets upset."

The pair fell silent.

"Do you miss him?" Simon asked after a moment.

Nathan was silent for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. "It's fucked up, isn't it?" He commented. "Simon's gone but then he's right here at the minute...I can't figure out if I'm lucky or not."

"I'm sure it'll get easier." Simon voiced after a moment.

_"Because ever since that storm struck I must have watched you die a hundred times...and it never got any easier."_

Nathan blinked a few times at the unceremonious memory of his Simon.

"Is it weird when I die?" Nathan asked suddenly, causing Simon to recoil.

"What...weird how?" He asked, recovering quickly. Scraping at the wall completely abandoned.

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. You know."

Simon looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you mean do I get upset when you die?"

Nathan didn't answer and Simon grinned slightly at him. "I thought I was supposed to be the shy one."

Nathan laughed, suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable. He leant against the wall and raised an eyebrow to Simon. "So, how long have you fancied the pants off me, then?"

Simon shook his head and pushed Nathan off the wall, Nathan wiggled his eyebrows at him and shoved him back.

Then everything happened so quickly that Nathan barely registered it. Curtis was on him and dragging him away from Simon and Kelly had her arms on Simon's shoulders and was dragging him away from Nathan.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?" Nathan asked as Curtis pushed him against the wall.

"Why the hell are you beating up Simon?" He asked.

"What, I didn't, it was just a playful shove!"

"It's never just a 'playful shove' with you..."

"Uh, you're such a prick." Alisha chimed in.

"Shut up!" Simon shouted, causing everyone to stop and stare at him. "Just leave him alone, stop being such dicks!"

Nathan swallowed, Simon had a hard expression on his face and with his shoulders squared he looked almost exactly like his Simon. Like he was back with him.

He couldn't help but be reminded of something Simon had told him once, that it was him that made him who he was.

"Fine." Alisha snapped before turning on her heel and walking in the opposite direction. After what appeared to be a few seconds of deliberation, Curtis let Simon go and followed Alisha.

Kelly gave Simon a reassuring shove and he smiled nervously in return before she walked off. Simon hoped she wasn't reading any of their thoughts about any of this.

Simon turned away and was met with Nathan's eyes staring at him wearily. Taken aback, Simon shifted slightly under his gaze.

"What is it?" He asked, concerned.

"Yeah." Nathan replied after a moment.

Simon's brow furrowed. "What?"

"I miss him."

Simon turned his head away momentarily. _This is going to take time,_ he reminded himself.

…

Nathan looked around Simon's bedroom with his eyebrow raised. It was very neat, it even looked like he had specific places for specific things.

He supposed his Simon had been quite neat, but there was quite a large difference between scattered paperwork and important countdown clocks and every series of Battlestar Galactica organised perfectly.

Nathan looked up when he watched Simon walk back in.

"You're a total nerd." He observed.

Simon rolled his eyes slightly. "Thanks." He answered, a little stiffly.

Nathan stuffed his hands in his pockets and took another look around the neat space, trying in vain to feel less awkward than he did.

"Where are the rest of your family?" He asked, recalling vaguely that Simon had mentioned a sister to him once. He also remembered the nasty remark that had come with it and tried quickly to expel the thought from his mind. He couldn't spent the rest of his life apologising to Simon, it was highly impractical.

"My sister is on a school trip and my parents are at a salsa class."

"Salsa?" Nathan pulled a face.

Simon smiled nervously. "Yes, I don't condone it."

"So...we're all alone?" Nathan asked rhetorically.

"We are." Simon answered.

The pair lapsed into silence.

After a moment, Nathan swivelled around and began to study Simon's film collection again but Simon knew it wasn't Star Trek Voyager that was on his mind.

Nathan had changed in so many ways since all of this began, but every now and then a part of his old self would shine through and it made Simon smile.

He wasn't smiling now, though.

He didn't know how he felt. He'd thought about Nathan before, in a boyish crush kind of way, and always alone. Never as a thing that would actually happen in the real world.

But over the time the pair had spent together, Simon had felt himself kind of enamoured with Nathan, he couldn't help it. Nathan was gorgeous and kind and broken and Simon had somehow put it upon himself to fix him.

Simon sank down on the edge of his bed and stared at Nathan's back.

"Come sit down." He said awkwardly.

Nathan glanced back at him, unsure as to how to respond. Tentatively, he crossed the room and sank down on the bed next to Simon, unceremoniously reminded of the very similar scenario he'd been in with the future Simon the very first time they'd met.

He was about to make a comment about it until he was cut off by Simon kissing him.

Simon was trying to be as confident as his future self, and he relaxed when he felt Nathan begin to respond to the kiss.

Their kisses had become quite common now and Simon enjoyed it a lot. When he thought about kissing Nathan, he'd always imagined he'd be quite hard and unforgiving because all he wanted to do was fuck.

But in reality Nathan was soft and warm and his kisses made Simon feel safe, what he didn't know was whether it was his future self that had made Nathan this way or whether he had always been like that.

He wanted to come out of his shell, he wanted to become the person Nathan remembered.

They were new and fresh and everything was awkward and weird but somehow Simon knew this relationship was worth trying for.

After a few moments of pleasant contact, Simon reached his hand out and tentatively touched the exposed skin of Nathan's abdomen. Nathan shivered slightly at the suddenly cold contact.

Feeling bolder than ever, Simon began to place a few kisses on Nathan's neck like he'd seen people do in films a million times. With no idea what he was even attempting, but knowing that Nathan felt good under his touch, Simon ran his hand further under Nathan's shirt and then suddenly there was nothing but air against his finger tips.

Simon opened his eyes to see Nathan had scooted rather hurriedly down to the other end of the bed with flushed cheeks and eyes wide with worry.

Simon felt himself go hot around the ears and tried not to take it personally. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I shouldn't have done that, I..."

Nathan shook his head, swallowing. "Don't say sorry, it's not you. It's never you. I just can't, I'm not ready..."

Simon nodded quickly. "I understand."

Nathan looked suddenly self-conscious.

"Maybe we can just stay here..." He began nervously.

Simon smiled reassuringly at him. "Sure, do you want to put a film on?"

Nathan nodded.

Simon hopped off of his bed, suddenly self-conscious, and selected a film at random. He slid the DVD into the player and was fiddling with the remote when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He turned to see Nathan perched in the middle of his bed, smiling slightly up at him.

Simon allowed himself to be pulled down onto the bed and settled himself against the headboard. Nathan wriggled next to him and stole the remote from his hand, pressing play.

It was about 15 minutes into the film that Simon felt the comforting weight of Nathan's arm around him.

He tried to conceal his elation and merely rested his head against Nathan's curls.

He'd lived in this house for many years yet this was the first time he had truly felt at home.


	10. Chapter 10

Simon walked into the community centre the next day and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Nathan, _his boyfriend_ , assaulting the vending machine.

"Get in." Nathan hissed quietly to himself as a diet coke fell out of the dispenser.

Simon struggled to conceal a smirk.

"Hi." He said.

Nathan straightened immediately, startled by the sudden company, causing Simon to laugh loudly.

Nathan shook his head, Simon had already changed so much and all it took was someone actually being nice to him. Nathan felt momentarily guilty for all the shit he'd given Simon in the past.

"Don't sneak up on me you little shit." He scolded playfully, opening his diet coke which had unfortunately fizzed during its ordeal and sprayed all over him.

Nathan swore quietly and looked up to see Simon staring at the wet patch on the front of his jumpsuit.

Nathan waggled his eyebrows suggestively before leaning against the vending machine.

"Don't get too turned on, now."

Simon rolled his eyes at him before turning away and walking in the direction of the locker room.

"Hey!" Nathan called out after him, taking a hold of Simon's hand and pulling him back into a kiss. Simon laughed against Nathan's lips and kissed him back.

It was in that moment, however, that the door opened and Alisha, Curtis and Kelly all entered.

Alisha began to laugh earnestly and Nathan sighed as Simon sprang away from him. He turned his head to see Kelly staring at them with her mouth agog.

Poor Simon looked like he was a rabbit in a headlight but Nathan supposed he looked no different.

"That is so wrong." Said Curtis, shaking his head.

Nathan felt his fear dissipate. "Sorry, what's wrong?" He asked.

Curtis suddenly looked like he had nothing to say. "No, nothin', man." He said quietly.

Before Nathan could even process this response, Kelly had stalked across the room and slapped him across the back of the head.

"Ow!" Nathan yelped, instinctively ducking away.

"When you told me you were seeing Simon, you told me it wasn't this one!"

"Wait, you knew about this?" Asked Alisha.

"I was telling the truth," Nathan told Kelly, ignoring Alisha. "That was a...different Simon," Nathan's chest constricted momentarily, "me and Simon...we...err..."

"With Nathan and I..." Simon suddenly interrupted, stepping forward. "Things just sort of fell into place," he glanced at Nathan, smiling nervously but reassuringly, "and if anyone has a problem with it, well, then..." He trailed off, not particularly sure where he was planning on going with that sentence. He suddenly felt a little glum, there was nothing threatening about him.

He wasn't that Simon.

"Okay," Curtis said after a moment, "you've changed your tune."

"Err..." Simon glanced nervously at the track star. "What do you mean?"

Curtis shrugged.

"You've just never tried to stand up for yourself before."

Simon wasn't looking at Nathan, so he couldn't see the proud little smile Nathan was sending in his direction.

…

Nathan absent-mindedly scraped old paint from an alley wall, so engrossed in daydreaming that he didn't notice Alisha sauntering over to him.

"I didn't have you down as gay." She said, catching his attention.

He turned to her for a moment but for the life of him couldn't think of a response so returned to his work.

"So," began Alisha, leaning against the wall. "What's Simon like in bed?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "None of your business."

"That's just code for 'we haven't done it yet'." She observed.

Nathan rounded on her. "Yeah, well I'm not like you. I don't shag everyone I meet."

There was a moment of silence, Alisha's eyes lowered.

"Sorry." He said after a moment.

"It's alright." She said, but didn't look back up at him.

He hesitated.

"The thing about me and Simon, it's really complicated." He said, and she finally looked up at him.

"Really?" She asked. "Why?"

Nathan looked over at Simon, working diligently beside Curtis.

He thought for a moment.

…

"That can't be very comfortable." Nathan observed, reaching across the short distance between them and undoing Simon's top button in one fluid motion.

Simon rolled his eyes as he brought his energy drink to his lips.

"Am I not cool enough for you now?"

"No." Nathan said pointedly, "but you should be now that you've got a bit of air in you."

Simon sent a small smile his way. It was a nice smile, a comforting smile. It made Nathan feel strangely safe.

He frowned.

"What is it?" Asked Simon immediately. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Said Nathan, scratching the back of his neck.

"Nathan..."

"I just wish things weren't so complicated between us." He explained.

Simon quirked an eyebrow. "Complicated? Are things complicated?"

"You know they are." Nathan responded, sounding a little sullen.

He reached out and entwined his fingers with Simon, lifting their hands until they were in plain view. "I want to just do _this_ without anything else. Without being reminded about how much your hand feels like his except it doesn't, not thinking it's awkward because we're new and we're fresh and we don't know each other that well yet..."

"You know me." Simon pointed out, giving Nathan's hand a little squeeze. "And I'm getting to know more and more about you everyday. I'm glad we _have_ all of this time stretched out in front of us to get to know each other, _properly_. Aren't you?"

"Yeah," Nathan replied, smiling shallowly before leaning his head on Simon's shoulder. "Thanks for being so understanding about all of this."

"It's okay," Simon replied, enjoying the comforting warmth of Nathan's curls against his shoulder. "You just need to figure out a way to...start again. I'm sure that's what..."

He meant to say he was sure that was what _Simon would have wanted_ , but he stopped himself.

"Look at me." He said softly.

Nathan lifted his head and his eyes met Simon's, wide with questioning.

"Why?"

"Just, look at me, just for a moment. And...don't see him."

Nathan's eyes searched Simon's, big and wide and so very young and innocent. Yet at the same time as wise and as intelligent as someone twice his age.

Nathan smiled after a moment.

"Simon." He said, as if it were an affirmation.

Simon returned the smile as he let his forehead fall against Nathan's and their bodies connected in a mixture of warmth and familiarity.

Simon couldn't help but wonder about his future self, had they, in fact, been the same person? Or were they two different people? He felt like it shouldn't matter, not 30 seconds ago had he told Nathan to forget about the future him and yet he was all Simon could think about.

He supposed it was different, though. Nathan needed to move _away_ from his future self, yet it seemed that Simon had no choice but to move _towards_ him.

…

Simon ghosted his fingers against one of the grey walls as he walked slowly around Nathan's flat. Well, Simon's flat, _well_ , the _other_ Simon's flat...

Simon shook his head. When he watched Doctor Who this sort of stuff made sense but now that he was in the middle of it he couldn't make any sense of it.

Simon paused when he came to the wall of clocks that were all set to zero. He stared at them for a moment before his eyes drifted to the cluster of polaroid photographs pinned to the wall. There were photos of all of them, and of him which was odd, but mostly they were of Nathan. He found himself smiling and feeling jealous of himself at the same time.

He couldn't help thinking about what Nathan had told him, about it being _Nathan_ that turned _this Simon_ into the future one but he couldn't picture it. He couldn't imagine being that guy, running around and jumping off buildings and saving people, like a superhero. He smiled wistfully at the idea for a moment, that was all he'd ever wanted growing up, but then he remembered Nathan telling him about the future Simon's death and the smile faded.

He looked around a little bit more until he came to a rail containing various items of clothing, he ran his hand on the fabric until his fingers were met with a coarse plastic.

He pulled out the hanger and saw the outfit the guy in the mask had always worn, mask and all. He must have had a spare. He couldn't help smiling a little, of course he would have a spare.

He looked down at the black plastic/cloth outfit he held in his hands, his eyes meeting the sightless gaze of the ski mask. He thought about all of the times Nathan had told him that he'd saved him. That he had known that he would die saving Nathan and yet did it anyway, because he'd said Nathan was worth it. He remembered Nathan's eyes tearing up as he recalled how the future Simon had told him to burn his body so no one would know he had been there.

He instinctively looked up and was met with the sight of the large grey bed across the open-planned space. He was unceremoniously graced with the thought of how many times Nathan and the future Simon had had sex there, and he felt himself get irrationally angry at the idea.

Nathan was right, their relationship should have been new and fresh but it wasn't, Nathan had all of these expectations about how brilliant the future Simon had been and all of the things that the present Simon was not.

Simon momentarily wondered why Nathan was with him, was it because he was waiting for him to be just like his future self? Was he only with him to get the actual love of his life back?

He looked back down at the outfit he was holding in his hands.

…

Nathan looked around the locker room several times before raising a quizzical eyebrow to himself and glancing at Simon's unopened locker beside him.

"Hey, Kel, have you seen Simon?" He asked. "He disappeared after lunch and I haven't seen him since."

Kelly shrugged a 'no' in response.

Alisha laughed. "God, will you give him a break for a minute?" She asked rhetorically, causing Nathan to smile minutely.

Curtis, Alisha and Kelly were being surprisingly supportive about this whole situation and Nathan was grateful for it. Although he would never admit it.

"He mentioned something about 'having to go do something'" Curtis chipped in unhelpfully, "don't know where he went, though."

Nathan's brow furrowed. It wasn't like Simon to just disappear off. Maybe something had happened to him?

Nathan felt a tightening in his stomach but forced himself to expel it.

He quickly finished changing and stuffed his jumpsuit in his locker and locked it.

He threw a quick "see ya" to the rest of him before he was out of the community centre, trying to figure out where Simon would go.

An idea suddenly popped into his head and he had no idea why, it would be completely improbable for Simon to go _there._

_Why had he thought of that?_

Nathan shook his head to himself and changed the direction he was walking in.

_He won't be there._ He kept telling himself rationally, but he kept on walking.

…

Simon took a deep breath and stepped up to the edge, the ground below him was a little blurry due to the ski mask he was wearing.

Simon slid the mask from his eyes and onto his head and, with a better view, saw just how far down the hard, concrete floor was.

He took a quick step back, wondering why the hell he was on the roof of a tenement block wearing the future Simon's outfit.

He shook his head. He couldn't do this. He knew he couldn't do this.

He remembered all of the things he'd watched the guy in the mask do; scale buildings, jump from roofs, climb around like an acrobat...

He felt his heart pumping heavily in his chest and took a few long breathes to try and calm himself. He felt his pulse slow slightly.

He remembered being a young boy, he remembered how his father had presented him with a shining new bike for his 10th birthday and instead of being excited he'd been scared to death. It looked huge and all he could picture were the scrapes he would get falling onto the pavement. Which he did. A lot.

_Still_ , he reasoned to himself, _you can ride it now._

Simon took a deep breath and stepped up to the edge again, looking down below him. He _needed_ to learn.

Among other things, he had a destiny to fulfil, and learning this stuff, and probably a few scrapes, were a part of it.

He slid the mask back down over his eyes and took one more breath.

The image of Nathan flitted across his vision before he jumped.

…

Nathan slid the elevator door open and stormed into Simon's flat, looking around wildly.

As soon as the crushing feeling entered him he knocked it back, trying to follow Simon's advice and not _see him._

He didn't particularly know why he thought Simon would be here. He supposed there was still a part of him that confused the two, but part of him just expected to see Simon stood there.

Which one, however, he wasn't sure.

Nathan walked across the open-planned space, his eyes momentarily flitted across the bed but he quickly turned his head away and walked over to the shower area.

He stopped when he noticed the clothes rail that was always so meticulously stowed away left strewn across the floor.

He cocked his head to the side, wondering why exactly would anyone go after Simon's clothes, unless they wanted his spare outfit...

Nathan's eyes widened as he realised just which hanger was gone. He bolted to the clothes rail and search through the items wildly until he realised it really wasn't there.

Simon always had a spare outfit, it was slightly different to one he normally wore but he had told Nathan once that he often damaged one of them jumping off buildings or...

The blood in Nathan's veins ran cold as he realised exactly what was going on.

He legged it quickly out of the flat, deciding in that moment he would have to go and save him. And then after that; kill him.

Nathan ran around the estate a couple times with no sign of Simon. He stopped himself suddenly when he felt a painful stitch appear at his right side. Clutching his abdomen, he turned on his feet and looked around himself, trying to think.

He couldn't see why Simon would go any further out than the council estate.

He remembered always thinking how small and dingy this place was but right now it was huge.

Ignoring the pain stabbing at him, he jogged slowly in between a few tenement blocks and stopped again, looking around.

He sighed frustratedly and pulled out his phone, ready to try Simon again until he heard a small groan coming from somewhere to his right.

He quickly pocketed his mobile and ran to the source of the noise, he turned a corner and let out a small gasp.

Simon, his Simon, was lying on the floor, wearing the black outfit, and writhing around in pain.

Nathan shot to him and collapsed to the ground next to him, the movement causing the shooting pains in his side to return. He grimaced slightly as he turned Simon's shaking form over.

Nathan quickly hauled the man to his feet and was met with Simon's wide eyes.

"Oh my God," he said as he noticed the thick gash across Simon's cheek.

"Nathan..." Simon said in a shaky breath, pain evident on his face. He reached a hand out and placed it on Nathan's cheek.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked worriedly, "what the hell are you doing?"

Simon took in a few gulps of breath. "I need to learn to be him." He said softly.

Nathan stared, wide eyed, for a few moments until he clutched Simon closer to him, realisation dawning on him.

_But, I don't want that._


	11. Chapter 11

Trying not to be annoyed, Nathan slung Simon's arm over his shoulder and maneuvered them around.

"I can walk on my own." Simon informed him in a small voice. Nathan rolled his eyes and let go of Simon's arm.

He took a step back and watched as Simon put his legs together precariously, in obvious discomfort.

Nathan raised a cynical eyebrow, knowing what was coming next.

Simon took a hesitant step and collapsed forward. Nathan, who had been anticipating the action, opened his arms and caught Simon. He let out a small huff, Simon weighed more than he was expecting.

"Woah, woah, you're okay. You're okay." Nathan assured him, balancing Simon's weight on his side.

He could still feel the anger in his stomach but he felt his heart melt a little at his injured boyfriend's embarrassed expression.

"I'm sorry." Simon said quietly, eyes hitting the floor.

Nathan shook his head. "It's okay, it's all okay. Let's just get you back."

Simon nodded but grimaced half-way through. The walk was tedious, with Simon having to stop every few minutes in pain.

Nathan had meant to take him to his home but realised it would be too far so instead he took him to the nearest place.

Nathan awkwardly slid the elevator door open for the second time that day, he let Simon sink down onto the bed and walked to the kitchen.

He turned the tap on and let the water trickle down his fingers. His eyes widened when he felt the hot water against his skin. Hadn't they cut this place off by now? He supposed it was so underground the council just forgot about it...

He heard a quiet groan coming from the bed and quickly filled up a small bowl with hot water and grabbed one of the white tea towels from under the sink.

He walked back over to see Simon sat up on the bed, cringing slightly.

Simon risked a small smile at Nathan that he did not return.

Nathan silently put the bowl on the floor and knelt down in front of Simon, he was that much taller that they were nearly the same height.

"Let me look at you. Where does it hurt?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"No I'm not mad at you."

"Nathan...why do you sound mad?"

"Because my boyfriend just dropped from a fucking building!" Nathan said icily, immediately regretting it when Simon recoiled and hissed in pain.

"I..." Simon tried.

Nathan frowned. "How badly are you hurt?"

Nathan leant forward and reached for the zip of Simon's outfit, Simon hesitated but didn't stop him.

Nathan lowered the zip, getting nauseating deja vu, and saw the blueish blemishes blossoming across his skin.

"Jesus Christ," Nathan said quietly. "You really landed on your side, didn't you?" He tried to laugh but the sound didn't quiet find the humour he was looking for.

He glanced up and met Simon's eyes, he looked a little afraid.

"I didn't mean to shout." Nathan told him. "I was just scared."

Simon nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

Nathan smiled shallowly before he eased Simon's shirt down over his arms. He reached down to the bowl of hot water that had cooled sufficiently and rung out the tea towel. He gently ran the towel over the largest bruise on Simon's abdomen. Simon hissed in anticipation but the noise died down when Nathan applied the warm liquid to his sore bruises.

Simon sat there and merely watched Nathan work, feeling the pain on his side ease a little.

"This is like a film." He observed a little shakily.

Nathan looked up at him as re-wetted the towel and ran it across Simon's collar bone, Simon shivered at the contact.

"Why are you trying to be like him?" Nathan asked.

"It's my destiny." Simon replied in that righteous way of his.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "That's bullshit, that what that is. You can't keep going out there and hurting yourself, you're going to drive me crazy worrying about you, and..."

"Really?"

Nathan halted for a moment, taken aback slightly.

"You'd worry about me?"

Nathan whacked his arm gently. "Of course I would, you dick."

Simon laughed.

Nathan smiled. "Thank God, a laugh at last."

Simon smiled and cocked his head to the side. "I'm sorry." He repeated. "I wasn't thinking."

"Yeah," Nathan replied. "I'm cocky and I make jokes and that's about 90% of my personality but you and I are in a relationship and I take that seriously. I have every intention of making this work but I can't do that if you're dead..." He faltered. "...Again." He finished off, going silent.

Simon shook his head. "Don't upset yourself." He said, leaning forward and kissing him. He felt the pain in his abdomen shoot through him but he didn't care.

Nathan kissed him hungrily for a second before pulling away. When Simon opened his eyes, Nathan's were still closed.

Simon stared at his face for a second, pale and beautiful, until he opened his eyes and Simon was greeted with his bright blue orbs.

Nathan looked down for a moment and ran his hand along the familiar plastic of the outfit and Simon watched in concern as Nathan worried his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Nathan..."

"If you're really set on being...him..." Nathan began hesitantly, "then you'll need these."

Simon watched as Nathan shifted slightly and delved into his pocket. He pulled the flat keys from his pocket and handed them to Simon.

Simon frowned.

"You're giving me your flat keys?"

"They're yours, really. This place belongs to you."

Simon took the keys hesitantly and looked down at them for a long moment before looking back down to Nathan.

"Move in with me." He said.

Nathan was taken aback.

"What...why?"

Simon smiled. "Because it's more your flat than mine. Besides, you shouldn't be in that community centre forever."

Nathan fought the waves of embarrassment that swept over him. He shook his head before he surged up and caught Simon's mouth in a kiss.

"I've never moved in with anyone before." He murmured against Simon's lips.

Simon smiled, snaking his arms around Nathan's neck and pulling him onto the bed with him and kissing him again.

Nathan's head hit the soft pillow and he wrapped his arms around Simon's shoulders and pulled him down next to him, enjoying the comforting the weight of Simon's body pressed up against him.

Nathan pressed his lips to Simon's again and Simon moaned and opened his mouth into the kiss, Nathan was surprised at just how confident Simon seemed to be these days.

Nathan felt the air around him grow hot and, without thinking, manoeuvred his body until he was straddling Simon's waist.

He moaned when he felt Simon's warm hands slide up his back and pull him down slightly.

"Nathan," Simon whispered against Nathan's lips, voice strained.

Nathan gave Simon a pained smile before pulling away slightly, he looked down on Simon, breathing heavily and staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

"That was a little..." Simon began, taking a few gulps of breath.

Nathan nodded and retracted his legs from Simon's waist before hopping off of the bed.

He turned on his heel and held his hand out for the man.

"Come on, you should eat something before you pass out."

Simon reached up and took Nathan's hand, allowing himself to be pulled onto his feet.

His abdomen screamed at him but he ignored it.

…

Simon's back hit the locker softly and he couldn't help grinning as Nathan kissed him again.

Simon had barely zipped up his jumpsuit before Nathan had pounced on him.

"Nathan, the others will be here in a moment."

Nathan pulled back momentarily and rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He said playfully, kissing him again.

There was a certain desperation behind Nathan's playful kisses and Simon knew why, it was because he was scared. He'd never admit it, of course, he was far too proud. But finding him on the floor like that had shaken him. He'd been angry, Nathan was never really angry.

Simon's stomach was twisting with a mixture of pleasure and guilt.

Without thinking, he ran his hand through Nathan's thick curls and pulled the taller man flush against him, Nathan moaned into his mouth at the unexpectedly confident manoeuvre.

"Oh come on, guys." Came the sighing yet vaguely amused voice of Alisha as a parade of footsteps walked into the locker room. "Just shag already."

Simon and Nathan broke apart suddenly and both stared at the other silently, both knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

They hadn't slept together yet.

Nathan cast his eyes away quickly, knowing that Simon didn't need that sort of pressure. He'd come out of his shy little shell so much lately but he was still fundamentally awkward little Simon. Nathan was beginning to find it quite endearing.

He realised that he would actually miss Simon's cute little blush and muttered assurances when he became his future self.

Nathan blinked a few times, unsure how he felt about what he had just thought. He felt the muscles in his stomach tighten momentarily when he thought about Simon, the Simon he still considered his Simon, but tried his best to expel the feeling.

However, it took a little longer to dissipate than he had anticipated.

"Nathan, you listening to me?" Came a sudden voice in the darkness.

Nathan whipped his head round to see Kelly staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He looked back again to see Simon staring at him quizzically, but thankfully not worriedly.

He shook his head to himself, realising he was stood in the locker room surrounded by people, Simon's hands still lax in his grip.

He held Simon's hands a little tighter, pulled him a little closer.

"Sorry," he said, "totally blanked out for a moment there. Was thinking about..." He racked his brains for a moment. "...Food."

He turned back to Simon.

"We should get food."

"You're so fucking weird." Kelly pointed out, laughing slightly. "I asked what you guys were up to tonight."

Simon smiled a little sheepishly.

"I've asked Nathan to move in with me. I've just got my own...flat. We're moving his stuff in tonight."

Curtis raised an eyebrow from across the room.

"Don't you guys think you're being a bit premature, how long have you been together?"

Simon looked at Nathan for a moment, who smiled shallowly back.

"Well, you could say we have a bit of a history."

…

Nathan took Simon's hand in his as they walked out of the takeaway later that day.

Simon looked down at the interlocked digits.

"You're being very touchy today."

"Oh," Nathan said, "sorry."

Simon tightened the grip slightly and smiled.

The pair walked on in silence.

"What were you really thinking about?" Simon asked suddenly, stopping Nathan in his tracks.

Nathan avoided looking at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Before, when you said you were thinking about food, you don't generally blank out like that."

Nathan looked at Simon, into those wide, hopeful eyes and found that he didn't have the heart to tell him that his mind had drifted to the other Simon yet again.

But then he didn't want a relationship built on lies, either.

"I was thinking about Simon." He admitted.

Simon didn't react for a moment, then he nodded slowly, in that annoyingly understanding way of his, before he looked to the ground.

Nathan stopped walking, Simon let out a surprised little yelp at the sudden change of pace and turned to face Nathan.

"It hurt when I thought about him," Nathan told Simon earnestly, "it always will. But, I was thinking about you becoming him, and how much I'm going to miss what we have now."

Simon's eyes widened.

"You're going to miss it?" He asked softly.

Nathan nodded.

"I get that there's a destiny to fulfill and stuff that needs to be done and all that shit just...let's take it slow, okay?"

"Slowly?"

"I kinda missed the whole 'falling in love' thing the first time round."

Simon smiled and looked at Nathan fondly, omitting to mention that Nathan had just said _love._


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, just wanted to thank you all for all the amazing/positive reviews and all of the story favourites/Kudos' I've received for this. I'm so glad that you're all enjoying reading this as much as I'm genuinely enjoying writing it and I'm eternally grateful xxx

Nathan groaned in frustration as he heaved a particularly heavy box through the lift door and looked up to the sound of Simon laughing at him from across the room.

He left the box on the floor and stalked over to him, eyebrow raised.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked.

Simon did his best to stifle the grin that was plastered across his face. "No, I'm laughing _with_ you, trust me."

Nathan spared him a glance before he turned around to the box that was lying on the floor.

"Is that the last one?" Simon asked.

Nathan shook his head.

"No, there's one more at the top of the lift, then I'm done."

Simon rolled his eyes as he walked past Nathan and towards the lift door.

"How much stuff do you have?" He joked.

"Honestly, I'm just as surprised as you are!" Nathan called after him before he heard the lift door slide shut.

He walked around the kitchen counter and opened the fridge, pulling two cans of drink from the cooler at the bottom.

He rolled his eyes. _Coolers._

He leant against the counter as Simon struggled to reopen the door whilst simultaneously holding a large cardboard box in one arm.

"You could help me, you know." He puffed out.

"I could." Nathan agreed, opening his can loudly.

Simon groaned as he struggled through the door and left the box next to the one Nathan had strewn across the floor.

He rubbed his hands together as if getting imaginary dirt off of them.

Nathan held the other can out to Simon as he approached him. Simon thanked him and took a swig, using his free hand to unbutton the first few buttons of his shirt.

Nathan smiled discreetly to himself as he watched the innocent yet monumental movement. This, living together, all of the little things. It occurred to Nathan that he finally had the chance to experience the beginning of their relationship, the 'falling in love' bit.

Nathan placed his can down and moved off to the two discarded boxes by the lift, he knelt down next to them and opened them up, scanning the items inside and deciding where he should put them.

Around half an hour later, he was done packing his things away and he allowed himself one small breath. He had moved in. He and Simon now lived together, officially lived together as a real couple.

The thought made him feel strangely giddy and he worked hard to expel the colour from his face before he turned on his heel and walked back to the main area of the flat.

Simon was sat on the edge of the bed, absent-mindedly lifting one of the weights that had been left there, more like he was testing the weight out in his hands than doing any actual reps.

Nathan watched a small bulge at his bicep surface every time he brought the weight up and leant against the wall, arms folded.

Simon caught sight of Nathan's frame casually watching him.

"What?" He asked, looking over to the Irish man.

Nathan shook his head. "Nothing, aren't I allowed to appreciate my sexy boyfriend every now and then?"

Simon looked tentatively down at the weight in his hand as if he wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Was he very muscular?" He questioned.

Nathan racked his brains for a moment, finding it difficult to conjure up a picture of Simon without the customary twinge of pain that accompanied the memories.

"I suppose." He finally decided. "But, you know, you're not completely off."

Simon looked down at himself again momentarily before pushing his sleeves up his arms.

Nathan allowed himself to flop onto the bed, he angled his head to the side and watched as Simon continued to lift the weight in his arm.

In that moment, everything suddenly felt exactly like it did before. But then at the same time completely different.

Nathan shook his head, wishing he could just decide on one emotion and stick to it. He hated this constant blurring between the present, the past and the future.

He just wanted everything to be okay.

Nathan found himself getting slowly to his feet and walking over to Simon. Simon looked up to see Nathan stood in front of him, reaching a hand out. His eyes looked strangely hooded.

"Would you like to come to bed?" He asked quietly.

Not taking his eyes off of Nathan, Simon slowly lowered his weights to the ground.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Nathan retracted his hand and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it unceremoniously across the floor. That was explanation enough.

Simon stood quickly, far too quickly, hands stuck at his sides.

"I...err..." He stuttered, causing Nathan to smile internally. "I haven't ever actually..."

Nathan's smile surfaced as Simon's cheeks turned rosy and his eyes were concentrated on the ground. Nathan wasn't exactly sure what had changed but he knew that he was exactly where he wanted to be.

"It's okay." He said softly, reaching his hand out to Simon's again. Simon followed Nathan's hands as they gave his a reassuring squeeze before they travelled to the hem of his shirt and teased underneath the soft fabric.

Simon stood, stock still, and allowed Nathan to slowly unbutton his shirt and ease it from his body.

It made a soft _thud_ sound as the fabric hit the floor but Simon was too mesmerised to notice.

He leant in experimentally and kissed Nathan softly on the lips and heard Nathan utter a little sigh in response.

Nathan grabbed Simon's hand again and pulled him forward until his legs hit the side of the bed and he collapsed down onto it, pulling Simon crashing down with him.

The pair laughed at the sudden change of direction and Simon felt suddenly at ease, he leant up again and pressed his lips to Nathan's neck, and Nathan shied his face away from such an assault on the sensitive flesh there. Instead, he sneaked his hands down between their bodies and felt around until he came across the zip on Simon's jeans.

He felt Simon's hand on his, stilling his movements, and sighed internally.

Simon's gaze met his.

"Err...which one of us...I mean, who did the...err..."

Nathan found himself concealing a smirk as relief washed over him. He reached out and stroked Simon's cheek, his other hand going back to the other man's zip and inching it down.

"You did." He told him softly, watching as Simon's eyes widened minutely.

Simon nodded and kissed Nathan again, moaning into his mouth when he felt Nathan's hand slip into his underwear and wrap around his already hard cock.

This was the first time anyone other than himself had touched him in that way, the moment felt huge, it felt titanic. He pulled away.

Nathan looked confused.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

Simon dipped his head slightly. "I...I don't want to screw this up." He admitted, causing Nathan to smile again.

"You won't." He assured him, giving him a quick kiss before he rolled over to the side of the bed and opened a drawer, coming back with a condom and a tube of lubricant.

Simon felt his stomach flip in jealousy as he realised that they must have been the items that Nathan and his future self had used but he forced himself to quell the feeling.

"Sit back." Nathan said soothingly, and Simon did. He pulled back and sat on his ankles.

Nathan crawled over to him and helped him ease his jeans off and cast them aside.

Simon reached out experimentally and Nathan allowed him to remove his trousers until the pair were naked and facing each other.

Nathan appreciated just how different this was to his first time with Simon. He got momentarily distracted when it occurred to him that the future Simon had talked about this as if were some other event and now Nathan was actually living it. All of the things Simon had told Nathan would happen in his future seemed to Nathan as if they had already happened. Yet here he was, experiencing them for the first time.

The thought was oddly daunting.

He came back to himself when he felt an oddly cool hand on his cheek, he inclined his head to see Simon looking at him, his eyes were gentle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked.

Nathan nodded and looked down at the condom in his slightly shaking hands, he watched as Simon's hand came into view and took the item from his grip.

Nathan looked up to see Simon staring down at his own hard member as he ripped the foil packet open and rolled the condom onto himself. Even from this angle, Nathan could see that he looked terrified.

His heart went out to him and he instinctively reached his arms out and pulled him closer, kissing him softly.

Simon responded to the kiss and it seemed to immediately calm him.

"Don't be scared." Nathan whispered when he pulled away. "It's just me."

He gave Simon a reassuring smile as he opened the tube of lubricant and squirted some onto his hand. Simon watched, in interest, as Nathan wrapped his hand around Simon's covered dick and began coating it with the cool substance, instantly causing it to regain some of the hardness it had lost during Simon's turmoil.

Simon bit down onto his lip as he watched Nathan's ministrations, he reached a hand out and grabbed Nathan's wrist, causing him to look up at him.

"Stop." Simon all but commanded. "I'm going to come."

Nathan smirked and retracted his hand.

"Not yet," was all he said as he squirted some more of the lube onto his hand and coated it on his fingers. He spread his legs and Simon, who had come back to himself, figured out what he was going to do.

"Do you want me to...?" He began, but Nathan waved him away.

"No, it's okay. This is your first time, just watch me."

So he did.

Simon watched as Nathan eased his index finger into his hole, watching as the liquid dribbled down onto the bed.

"Fuck..." He said in a low voice as he watched Nathan slip another finger inside of himself.

Simon was caught off guard by a small, whimpering moan and looked up to see Nathan's face, eyes closed and brow furrowed in pleasure.

He realised in that moment that he would never find anyone more beautiful than Nathan in the world.

But just as quickly as the moment appeared, it vanished again. Nathan retracted his hand and slowly opened his eyes, meeting Simon's gaze and smiling again.

"What?" He asked, catching the other man's stare.

"You're perfect." Simon told him, causing Nathan to blush.

"Come here," Nathan commanded, voice low and full of lust. Simon crawled up the bed until he was situated between Nathan's legs. He wrapped his arms around the Irish man's upper body and kissed him, hard, like a man starved of oxygen.

He heard Nathan moan into the kiss and realised that he wanted to be responsible for all of Nathan's pleasure from that moment on.

Nathan shifted until he felt Simon's cock poking against his ass, he tentatively wrapped his legs around Simon's waist and looked up at him.

It was in that moment that Simon appreciated just how scared Nathan looked. Not terrified, not like he didn't want this to happen, but scared that it wasn't going to be anything like he remembered.

Or maybe scared that it was going to be exactly the same.

Without taking his eyes from Nathan's blue orbs, Simon reached down between them and guided his cock forward until he felt it come into contact with Nathan's hole.

Nathan tightened his legs around Simon's waist, effectively pulling him into him.

Simon shuddered and closed his eyes as he felt the tight muscles of Nathan's ass contract around him.

Nathan let out a shallow moan as Simon stilled inside of him.

Breathing heavily, Simon propped himself up on his shoulders and stroked Nathan's hair that was moist with sweat.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

Nathan nodded up at him, attempting to smile. "Yeah, yeah. Just overwhelmed."

Simon nodded. "Do you want me to st...?"

He was cut off by Nathan surging up and kissing him. "You can move." He whispered against Simon's skin.

Simon tried to hide his nervousness. He'd watched porn, he'd seen sex scenes in films, he had to take control.

He pulled back until he was only half inside Nathan before plunging back in shallowly, causing Nathan to let out a small gasp.

He pulled out again and pushed back in, deeper this time.

Simon felt Nathan's legs tighten around his waist, he shuddered slightly and placed his hands on Nathan's hips, attempting to pin the man to the bed but also trying to be gentle enough so as not to bruise him.

Nathan couldn't help but find Simon's ministrations oddly endearing, he was so nervous of his own emotions that he was trying to be hard and gentle at the same time.

Nathan wished he could pull Simon down to him and whisper in his ear that one day he'd be excellent at this, one day he would make Nathan moan and weep and come but he couldn't. He couldn't tell Simon how much better his future self had been.

Simon thought that Nathan didn't notice the way his eyes twinged whenever his future self was brought up but he did.

Nathan lay back as he felt Simon plunge into him again, the burn was very pleasant and made Nathan shudder, and the pleasure pooling at the base of his spine garnered his attentions for a few minutes and he allowed his eyes to close.

He opened them again when he heard a soft moan come from above him and looked up to see Simon's face had gone lax. He smiled to himself.

Simon closed his eyes when he came, the sensation was far more natural than he had thought it would be.

The media made orgasms out to be instant and exploding but he entered into his like the natural progression of water rolling down a stream, and the pleasurable sensations continued on for what felt like several minutes.

When he opened his eyes again, he realised that he was rather exhausted. He looked down to see Nathan smiling sweetly up at him and smiled back in return until he gaze travelled down to Nathan's cock, still hard and straining against his stomach.

He glanced up to Nathan's suddenly worried expression and his smile dropped.

Propping himself up on his elbows a little more, he reached one forearm down and wrapped his hand loosely around Nathan's throbbing member.

He felt Nathan's own hand reach down and ease his away, he looked up to see him smiling reassuringly at him.

"It's okay," he said, "you don't have to do that. I'm okay."

Embarrassed, Simon pulled out of Nathan and turned slightly, perching himself near the edge of the bed.

Staring at the floor, Simon wished away the red blush that was seeping onto his cheeks.

"I bet the other Simon could make you come." He said dejectedly.

There was a beat of silence until Simon heard the bed covers rustle and felt a dip beside him as Nathan joined him at the edge of the bed, wrapping his arms around Simon from behind.

"Practice makes perfect," he whispered all too kindly by Simon's ear. "One day you'll be, you know, just as..."

It was Nathan's kind reassurances that made Simon so angry, because somewhere the in the pit of his stomach he was so cross with himself because he wanted to give Nathan everything yet he couldn't. He wanted Nathan to realise just how useless he actual was.

"I'll never be good enough." Simon snapped, standing so quickly that Nathan fell back onto the bed slightly. "You'll never love me as much as you loved him."

Nathan watched in shock as Simon stalked away from the bed and turned invisible before his eyes.

Feeling anger pooling in his stomach, Nathan reached across the bed and quickly pulled his jeans on. He walked to the middle of the living space and looked around.

"Hey!" He called out, trying not to feel like a fucking idiot for talking to thin air. "What about you, then? You were giving it all that about fulfilling destiny and all that shit, how do I know if you care about me at all? How do I know if you'll ever love me, or if you're just with me because you think you have to be!"

Simon suddenly visualised in front of Nathan, causing him to back off in shock.

"Of course I love you." He said in a hard voice, eyes full of desperation.

Nathan stepped forward again slowly, brain silenced by the sudden declaration.

He watched as Simon's eyes eased to the floor.

"I don't want to live in his shadow." He said softly, glancing back up to Nathan.

Nathan couldn't be angry anymore, he just couldn't. Simon loved him, Simon loved him for the very first time.

"You have to stop thinking about you and the future you as two different people," he said softly, "you're the same person, and I love you. I love you."

Simon stared at Nathan for the longest time, like he was somehow looking past Nathan's eyes and right inside of him.

Simon leant in and pressed a soft kiss to Nathan's lips, wrapping his arms around the other man and pulling him closer.

When they broke apart, Nathan's eyes sparkled at him.

"Do you want to try again?" Nathan asked softly in his Irish lilt.

Simon allowed himself a small smile, willing the embarrassment to stay away.

"Do you want to?" He asked.

"Practice makes perfect." Nathan grinned.

When the pair made it back to the bed, Nathan was shocked when he felt Simon push him gently down into a sitting position. He watched as Simon eased his jeans down his legs and threw them aside and realised exactly what was happening.

Simon glanced up at Nathan momentarily, worry evident in his eyes, before he lowered his mouth down and slowly suckled on the head of Nathan's cock. Nathan's eyes closed instinctively at the feelings that surged through him.

He felt incredible and powerful and vulnerable and oddly guilty at the same time.

He looked back down to Simon, who was staring up at him again and he identified the twinge of guilt. This was Simon's first time, he remembered how embarrassed he'd been the first time he'd given a blowjob.

He also remembered how he'd gotten through it, as well.

He smiled gently down at Simon and reached a hand down, placing it on Simon's cheek and easing his head forward slightly.

He could feel his own dick through the skin of Simon's cheek and felt his breath hitch in his throat.

After a moment, Simon realised what Nathan was doing, he was guiding Simon through the act, showing him what to do.

He smiled around Nathan as he heard him moan above him and, gaining confidence at this achievement, he pulled back slightly and allowed his tongue to swipe at the underside of Nathan's cock.

He felt Nathan buck suddenly at the sensation and heard the whimper that came from above and mentally logged that that action caused Nathan to go crazy.

So he did it again, and again and soon Nathan was coming hard.

When Nathan looked back down at him, his eyes looked tired but satisfied.

Smiling, Simon surged upwards and captured Nathan's mouth in a kiss. Nathan moaned slightly as he could taste himself on Simon's tongue. Whether that was hot or gross, he didn't know.

He decided on hot and kissed Simon back.

Nathan pulled Simon back onto the bed, the exhaustion of the day of moving and of their evening activities gaining the better of the both of them.

Simon settled down quite happily and Nathan draped the covers over the pair of them.

There was something strangely surreal about sharing a bed with another person, especially with that other person being Simon.

"I can't believe this." Said Nathan after a moment.

"What?" Asked Simon.

Nathan shuffled until he and Simon were lying down, face to face.

"We just moved in together." Nathan explained. "It's like we have a proper life."

Simon smiled hugely. "I know, I like the idea of it."

"Me too." Nathan agreed, scooting closer to Simon until Simon wrapped his arms around Nathan's lithe frame.

Nathan found himself relaxing instantly before he felt that familiar, painful pull on his heart where Simon used to be.

He turned his head slightly to see Simon absent-mindedly drawing little circles onto his collarbone.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Simon stilled his hand movements. "Sorry, I just zoned out. Was I tickling you?"

"No," Nathan said after a moment, "no, no, sorry. I just...carry on, it felt nice."

Nathan settled again next to his boyfriend as he started making those little circles on his skin again.

Soon, the repetitive motion made Nathan drowsy and he smiled to himself as he felt sleep claim him. Knowing that, slowly but surely, the shattered pieces of his heart were sewing themselves back together again.


	13. Chapter 13

Nathan took a long drag of his cigarette and worried the cylindrical object between his fingers.

He'd told Simon he would try and give up, Simon hadn't been particularly fussed but Nathan knew that it bothered him.

It was mainly because Simon worried over Nathan's health more than his own that Nathan was willing to try.

But he'd allowed himself a smoke if something worrying happened, he was only human, obviously.

Plus, he assumed if Simon were allowed to do unhealthy things, then so was he.

At the thought, Nathan turned and saw that Simon hadn't moved from his spot on the floor.

He'd been perched like that, cross-legged and hunched over, for the best part of an hour; scribbling uncharacteristically messily through a pad of paper.

Nathan quickly extinguished his cigarette and padded across the room, letting himself collapse into a sitting position next to his boyfriend.

Simon smiled as Nathan joined him but didn't look up, Nathan was worried steam was going to rise from the pen.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked, stroking the back of Simon's neck in an attempt to get his attention.

"Writing." Simon answered in that awkwardly obvious way of his.

"Obviously," Nathan muttered, turning away. "Writing what? I've never seen you concentrate this hard."

Simon looked up at him.

"Everything you told me."

Nathan arched an eyebrow.

"Everything I told you? About what?"

"About him."

Nathan's mouth went dry.

"What do you mean?"

Simon angled the notepad out so Nathan could read it.

_Sunday 21st – Kelly mugged..._

_Tuesday 23rd – Alisha threatened by knifeman..._

"I found out all of the dates after you told me the days, it wasn't that hard to work out so..."

"Why are you doing this?" Asked Nathan slowly.

Simon presented him with a shallow smile.

"Well, I'm going to have to know what he did if I'm going to become him."

Everything clicked into place.

Now that Nathan took a moment to actually think about it, it all made sense. Simon had always told him that specific things had to happen at specific times but he'd never told Nathan how he actually knew all that. He'd always skirted around the questions involving what he did and how he did it, or Nathan was too pre-occupied with being in love to ask. But it was so obvious, the future Simon did things in front of Nathan, Nathan told the present Simon who then became the future Simon...like a paradox.

"Nathan, you've gone pale..." Came Simon's worried voice, and Nathan's gaze snapped back to him.

"I'm fine." He said, attempting to smile before he pressed a quick peck to Simon's cheek before standing.

"Don't be too long, we have to get to community service."

As Nathan walked away, however, he squeezed his eyes shut.

That must have been the first time he'd truly, really truly appreciated that his Simon and his other Simon were, in fact, the same person. They were linked. They had exactly the same future.

And Nathan knew exactly what was going to happen next.

He clutched at his stomach as he went to find his clothes.

…

Simon unconsciously reached out and took his hand when they reached the community centre entrance.

Nathan looked over to the other man to see him staring distractedly down at his phone and smiled minutely to himself.

When they entered the locker room, Curtis, Kelly and Alisha were already there and dressed.

"Soppy bastards." Curtis said, taking in their clasped hands.

Simon laughed softly at the declaration and Nathan stuck a middle finger up, albeit jokingly, in Curtis' direction.

Nathan had just zipped his jumpsuit up when the probation worker skidded round a corner.

"Right, you useless shits," he began, earning a few eye rolls from around the room. "You lot-" he gestured to Simon, Alisha and Curtis, "-go to the hospital, you're gonna do some gardening. And you two-" he gestured to Nathan and Kelly, "-I don't trust you, so stay here and try not to break anything."

Nathan and Kelly gave each other a look before the probation worker turned on his heel and left the room as quickly as he'd come.

"I guess I'll see you later, then," Simon said a little glumly.

"Hmm." Nathan replied.

Simon reached forward and gave Nathan a quick peck on the lips before he grabbed his coat from the hook and followed Curtis and Alisha out of the locker room.

…

Kelly allowed herself to fall onto one of the plastic seats in the main hall of the community centre.

Nathan trailed in after her, aware that they'd been told to do  _something,_ but exactly what, he wasn't sure.

"Must be good to be out of here." Kelly voiced.

Nathan glanced over to the stairs across the room and his previous make-shift bedroom and smiled to himself.

"It is, feels like I've got my life back on track."

"How is everything going with Simon?" She asked faintly.

The way she said it made it sound like it was such a normal question, like he and Simon being together was the most normal thing in the world. But it was very fucking far from normal and he wished he could tell her that.

Nathan wished he could talk to her about his troubles and his worries. He wished he could tell her about the persistent nagging feeling he'd been getting these last few days, about how Simon was turning more and more into the Future Simon every day and it scared the shit out of him, but he couldn't.

Simon, his Simon, the old Simon, had made him promise with his dying breath not to tell anyone.

A request the current Simon would make to him in the future.

Nathan felt a pit in his stomach form at the thought.

Over the last few weeks he'd began to accept that there was a part of him that was going to love Simon as a separate entity to the current Simon, probably for the rest of his life.

But what he had now, the love he felt for Simon right now, it felt real. It felt less surreal than it had before. Like they were allowed to be together and they were allowed to make the most of it.

No matter how many times he'd told Simon they were the same person, he'd unconsciously separated them himself and it looked like he was going to have to listen to his own advice.

He shook his head, trying to convince himself to concentrate on all that was making him happy rather than messing everything up far quicker than the laws of time and physics ever could.

…

Nathan sprawled out across Simon's large grey bed,  _their grey bed,_ he mentally corrected himself, as his mind was drawn back to his earlier conversation with Kelly.

He  _was_ glad to get out of the community centre. Hell, he had his own place now, somewhere to sprawl out across and do what he wanted in.

He smiled to himself.

Nathan sat up immediately at the startlingly grating sound of the lift door being pulled open.

He hopped happily from the bed, ready to greet Simon upon his return like a proper housewife when he stopped in his tracks.

Simon was dressed in the black ski outfit, walking with a slight limp and with an aggressively purple shiner on his left eye.

He smiled as he saw Nathan.

"Hey."

"What the fuck happened to you?"

Simon shrugged, still smiling goofily.

"I was just training, a man hit me in the face."

Nathan's expression was stony as he walked to the kitchen.

"You're an idiot, you're gonna get yourself killed." Nathan said as he made up a cold compress. He walked back to Simon and handed him the damp cloth, forcing a smile onto his face as Simon sat on the edge of the bed and accepted the offering.

"Are you hungry?" Nathan asked, "I was going to make something."

"Since when do you make food?" Simon asked, wincing as he pressed the compress to the swelling bruise over his eye.

"I thought I'd better make a start if we're living here now." Was all Nathan said before he turned on his heel and walked back to the kitchen.

Simon lowered the compress as he watched his boyfriend stalk away, he sighed internally.

"You know, I might have a black eye but I'm not blind."

"Well, that's good to hear." Nathan replied absent-mindedly as he searched the kitchen cupboards for some food.

Simon watched Nathan potter around the kitchen, ignoring him, in exactly the way his mother used to do.

Simon stood slowly and walked to the kitchen, unzipping his vest slightly as he leant against the kitchen counter.

"Nathan, will you listen to me?"

Nathan stopped what he was doing and turned to Simon, recognising the seriousness in his tone.

"What is it?" Nathan asked guardedly.

"I'm not blind." Simon continued. "Every time I go out to train or...or do anything concerning  _him_  you look at me like you're scared I'm going to disintegrate or something, and then you're always off with me afterwards." He sighed again, voice turning softer. "I know you're scared, I just want to know what the problem is."

Nathan felt the ire rise in his stomach as he stalked closer to Simon. Simon, who still had enough Barry left in him, arched away from the sudden confrontation.

"Of course I'm fucking scared, you got beat up,  _again,"_ he punctuated the word. "You're confused that I don't like you going out and getting hurt?"

"I thought we already had this conversation?" Asked Simon. "I thought you were okay with me doing this."

"Yeah, I thought I was too!" Nathan said loudly. "But everyday you become more like him. Everyday you get stronger. And it's not going to stop there. The closer you get to being him, then the closer you get to having his future. You're going to leave me. You're going to die, I've seen it happen."

Simon froze and Nathan let his face fall into his hands. He thought Simon had considered this, he didn't want to shove his fucking death in his fucking face...

"I thought that was what you wanted." Simon said simply.

Nathan's face snapped up and glared at him. He was ready to shout and scream at him, to ask Simon in what fucked up universe did he think he wanted him to die?

But he couldn't.

Because Simon was right.

"It was." Nathan said dejectedly, turning his face away. "I wanted it all back." He turned back to Simon. "But not like this. I can't lose you again." Nathan surprised himself when a tear slid rebelliously down his cheek. "I can't."

Simon made quick work of walking around the kitchen counter and taking Nathan into his arms. The Irish man seemed to cling to him and Simon was inadvertently reminded of the weeks after his future death.

It seemed so long ago now that it was just a hazy memory, but the raw pain Nathan had exhibited still burned brightly in his memory.

He remembered when he'd stalked Nathan in the community centre and watched him cry himself to sleep, how fragile and vulnerable he'd been, how his eyes looked like they were made of glass and his tears might shatter them.

He remembered comforting himself with knowing that Nathan wasn't truly alone because he was there, even if he didn't know it.

But this time he really would be alone, and Simon didn't have it in his capacity to do that to him again.

"I'll stop," Simon found himself whispering against Nathan's dark curls. "I'll stop."

Nathan pulled back from the hug and met Simon's gaze with his own; eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Promise?" He urged.

"I promise." Simon agreed quietly, nodding.

Nathan smiled slightly, a relieved sigh escaping his lips before he pressed them to Simon's.

Simon allowed Nathan to kiss him for a few moments before he pulled back and Nathan's fingers lingered to the zip on his vest.

"Get rid of this." He whispered against his cheek.

Simon nodded again, attempting a small smile.

"Yeah, I will."

Nathan kissed him again.

"Do that," he said quietly, "then come and do me."

Simon clutched onto his hand as Nathan walked over to their bed, Simon kept his eyes trained on Nathan's retreating back before he quickly unzipped the ski gear he was wearing, he fumbled around in the cupboards until he came across a cardboard box and quickly deposited the stuff inside.

He placed the ski mask atop the clothes and swallowed as it felt like the eyeless mask was judging him as he closed the box and put it in the bottom of the closet, making a mental note to dump it somewhere tomorrow.

He didn't bother to change into anything else and walked, naked, across to the bed.

Nathan had turned off some of the lights before he sank onto the bed and slung an arm over his eyes. Simon licked his lips slightly at the rise and fall of his bare torso, taking a step over his boyfriend's discarded clothes and sinking onto the bed beside him.

Nathan uncovered his eyes and merely stared up at Simon for the longest moment, Simon watched intently as Nathan's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

They'd had sex a few times since Nathan had taken Simon's virginity, and Simon liked to think he was improving that particular skill as well as he'd been improving his strength and speed at becoming his future self.

He reasoned that it was easy to believe that Nathan pretended he fucked better than he did, because he wanted it to be exactly as it had been before and encouragement worked better than criticism.

But now, now that Nathan had expressed that he wanted Simon, wanted Simon more than he wanted his future self back, that meant that every moan and every desperate keening cry had been real. The way Nathan was staring hungrily up at him, the feel of Nathan's cool fingers running along the expanse of his chest – that was real, too.

It set Simon's blood on fire.

He reached down and pressed a long, lingering kiss to Nathan's pliant lips, humming as the man squirmed beneath him and threaded his long arms around Simon's neck, pulling him closer until the line of their bodies were pressed tightly together.

Simon pressed both of his hands into the pillows beneath Nathan's head, alleviating some of his body-weight from the Irish man, aware that he was only getting thicker and heavier since he'd started training, but even though Nathan had allowed some of his body weight disappear, he didn't seem content with letting Simon's mouth go for a single second.

"Simon..." Nathan moaned breathlessly when he finally pulled away, Simon took the quick recess as a chance to suck in a few breaths and fill his lungs. "Fuck me, please."

Simon found himself nodding brainlessly as he shifted his body ever so slightly and reached across the bed to the bedside table where he kept a stash of condoms and lubricant.

He'd learnt, very quickly, that Nathan was a bit of a stallion when it came to love-making and was up for doing it anywhere and everywhere. Simon had pursed his lips at public places and Nathan had laughed loudly, grinned coyly and told Simon that he would break him down.

The idea made Simon hot at the collar and he both feared and became excited about Nathan's promised 'breaking down' techniques. But had, graciously, agreed to keeping condoms and lubrication around the flat and even in his locker so that when Nathan gave him that look that made his blood boil, they would be ready.

His hands closed around the items he was looking for and he shivered as he felt Nathan's arms around his waist, pulling his body flush against him.

Their cocks rubbed against each other and Simon hissed at the unexpected friction.

Simon pulled back so he was sitting on his ankles and was momentarily taken aback by the sight of Nathan lying down beneath him, his skin was flush and his eyes closed, curly locks a halo around his face.

He had one hand curled around his cock but he wasn't stroking, he was only gripping it loosely.

"Nathan..." Simon began slowly. "I love you."

Nathan smiled shallowly before he opened his eyes and gazed breezily up at him.

"I love you, as well."

Simon swallowed and tried to calm his shaking hands as he dribbled lubricant onto his fingers.

Nathan sat up slightly and reached a hand out, wrapping his fingers around Simon's wrist and pulling it to him.

When Simon met his gaze, Nathan's eyes seemed to be shining as he brought the pair of them back to the bed.

"Stop worrying," Nathan cooed against his skin, "you're perfect."

Energized by such a compliment, Simon surged forward and captured his boyfriend's lips with his own as his slick fingers trailed between Nathan's thighs.

Nathan gasped loudly at the twin sensations of Simon's hot tongue tangling with his own and Simon's cool fingers teasing at his entrance.

"Fuck, Simon, you're such a fucking tease." Nathan had meant to sound irate but didn't have quite enough breath to reach it.

Simon grinned as he pressed his index finger inside of Nathan's quivering hole, watching as the man arched off of the bed at the intrusion.

Using his free hand, Simon rubbed soothing circles against Nathan's skin as he Nathan shivered against him.

"I've got you." Simon assured him.

Nathan smiled shallowly up at him as he regained control of his breathing. "I know you have." He replied, heaving out a sigh as Simon pushed another lube-slicked finger inside of him, revelling in the tight, hot feel of Nathan surrounding him.

Nathan shivered and keened as Simon gently worked him open, pushing his fingers deftly against the bundle of nerves deep inside Nathan's body and causing him to gasp and shake.

When Simon pulled his fingers free, Nathan threw his arm over his eyes and Simon watched, transfixed, the rise and fall of his stomach as he tried to gather himself.

It electrified him that he was capable of making Nathan feel this way, of being able to destroy him with a few strokes of his finger, he'd had no idea he could be so powerful.

But when Nathan reached between them and snagged the condom out of Simon's grip, ripping it open and teasing it fluidly down onto him, he realised that it wasn't him that was the strong one. He doubted he ever would be.

Simon allowed Nathan to ease him forward, the blunt head of his dick resting against the burning hot heat of Nathan's slick entrance.

Nathan stilled suddenly, moving his hand away and staring up at Simon as though all of the breath had been sucked out of him.

Simon blinked, almost imperceptibly, before he wrapped his fingers around the base of himself, gasping at the the contact, before he eased the first few inches of his straining cock inside, breaching the ring of muscle and slipping into the warmth.

Nathan shouted loudly, back arching and fingers curling into the sheets surrounding him. His eyes burst open and hit the ceiling, breathing coming out in short, shallow bursts.

Simon feared he might come prematurely from the twin sensations of the suffocating heat around his cock and the sight of Nathan so debauched and so undone beneath him, but he gritted his teeth as he sank all the way in, pausing when the dark hairs at the base of his cock teased the cleft of Nathan's ass.

Nathan let out a long, shaky laugh as their eyes met.

"Jesus, Simon, you're...you're getting too good." Was all he managed to say.

"After all this time?" Simon asked quietly. "It's still so...intense?"

Nathan nodded quickly, wrapping his legs around Simon's waist. Simon gasped involuntarily as Nathan caused him to shift inside of him, every teasing movement made him felt like he was going to explode, or pass out, or die. Whichever came first.

"Simon, Simon, Simon..." Nathan babbled unintelligibly as his eyes fluttered closed and he reached out blindly for him. "Fuck me until I can't think about anything else."

And so he did. Simon leant down gently, making Nathan mewl at the shift in his ass and the friction Simon's bare torso caused to his neglected cock, before pressing a soft kiss to his jaw, moving his mouth in time with the snap of his hips so that when Nathan began to cry out from the intensity of the feeling, Simon was pressing gentle, butterfly kisses to his closed eyelids.

The pair came within seconds of each other, Nathan tightening beneath him and crying out softly as his cock jerked and spewed ropes of white come between them.

Simon buried his face into the crook of Nathan's exposed neck as he felt himself suffocate and release, all in the same moment. He didn't know why he'd questioned why sex never got any less intense for Nathan, he didn't think it would ever get any less intense for him, either.

When Simon had finished disposing of the condom, he walked back to the bed to find Nathan lying atop the covers, come still dripping down his chest with his eyes closed and a small, sated smile playing on his lips.

Simon felt a small stab of pride and fought to control his smirk, but when he spoke he could still hear it in his voice.

"Can you remember anything?" He asked.

"Nuh Uh." Was Nathan's response, opening his eyes and leaning on his side so the pair were facing each other. "Just you."

"You don't need to remember me," Simon pointed out, "I'll always be here."

Nathan made a satisfied noise as he pulled Simon closer and wrapped his arms around him. Simon cuddled him back but wished he could be just as happy at such a declaration.

If he would always be here, did that mean that Nathan would always be here?

The thought made him shiver so he pushed it out of his mind and concentrated of the feeling of Nathan in his arms.

He was here  _now,_ that was all that mattered.

Sometimes you just had to live in the moment.

 


	14. Chapter 14

The sun was beating down unusually warmly on the roof of the community centre, so much so that Nathan had to shield his eyes from the glare with his palm.

"I should have brought some sunglasses." Nathan voiced, frowning.

"Hmm." Was Simon's response.

Nathan twisted his head and glanced up at Simon from his position sat between his legs. Simon was lounging in a wheely chair, eyes closed with the zip of his jumpsuit undone halfway, revealing the newly muscular planes beneath.

Nathan grinned to himself as he leant back against Simon's legs. He'd changed so much since they'd gotten together, Nathan barely recognised anything of the shy, scared boy he used to be.

_'It's your love that turns him into me.'_

"Damn fucking right." Nathan muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Asked Kelly from her sunbathing position across the rooftop.

"Oh, nothing." Nathan called back. "Just chatting shit about sunglasses."

"Nathan Young? Chatting shit? Nooo." Curtis said sarcastically, lounging on an upturned fruit crate, Alisha giggled next to him.

"Oi, wanker, come say that to my face." Nathan said, voice light and joking, before balling his fists in Curtis' direction.

"You're too aggressive." Came Simon's soft, playful voice as he ran his fingers through Nathan's hair.

Nathan keened at the contact, reminded unceremoniously of Simon's hand in his hair yanking back when he's on his knees or Simon's hand in his hair pushing him into the bed as he...

He grinned stupidly to himself as he inclined his head to his boyfriend.

"You love me all rough." He pointed out, tongue in cheek.

Simon opened his eyes and glanced down at him, grinning softly. "That I do." Was all he said.

"We'd better get going back." Alisha suddenly voiced across the roof. "That dick probation worker probably has some boring shit he wants us to do."

There was a wave of groans as the five of them all stood and made their way down the stairs and into the main entrance of the community centre.

"I'm getting tired of this shit." Nathan moaned, slipping his hand into Simon's as they walked.

"Don't worry," Simon said, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "It'll all be over in a few weeks."

When they made their way to the entrance, they were halted by Kelly pressing her nose against the glass of the doorway to the main hall.

"What the fuck is going on in there?" She asked loudly.

Nathan stopped walking and stood on his tippy toes to get a better view of the room. It appeared to be a bunch of teenagers painting on easels, something that was normal enough, except something didn't seem quite right about them.

Nathan's eyes travelled over a male closest to the door who appeared to have a glazed over look in his eyes and was splatting paint onto his paper without any particular finesse, before his gaze settled on a woman with disproportionate facial features merely staring at her paper and not moving.

"I think they're retarded." Nathan finally voiced.

"Nathan!" Simon admonished, digging him in the ribs. "That's terrible."

"Sorry," Nathan said, rolling his eyes before he made a face. "Oh God, you don't think we have to get in on this do you?"

"Actually, that's exactly what you're going to do." Came the lazy drawl of the gangly, disinterested probation worker as he sauntered around the corner to greet them.

"What's wrong with them?" Alisha asked.

"They're all from St. James' psych ward."

Simon visibly swallowed. "St..St. James?" He asked, voice wavering.

Nathan, who noticed, glanced down at him with his eyebrow raised. "Are you okay?" He asked.

It took Simon a moment before he could nod, but he forced a smile onto his face as he did.

That seemed to satisfy Nathan who nodded back before looking back into the main hall, craning his neck to get a better look.

Nathan preoccupied, Simon looked back into the room and shivered as a part of him realised that if things had gone any differently for him, he'd be in that room with the rest of them rather than on the other side with his friends.

He didn't want to be reminded of his times on the psych ward, he wasn't that person anymore.

"Come on, let's go say hi." Nathan said cheerily, pushing the door open.

Simon closed his eyes, wishing there was some way to convey to Nathan exactly what was going on in his head without having to go into the finite details. But he had the power of invisibility, not telepathy, and had no choice but to follow them into the main hall.

He smiled half-heartedly at the kids who turned to stare at them and felt a stab of guilt that they were still there, still in that situation without a chance to really heal but then he reasoned with himself that some of them needed this help, and would benefit from it far better than he had.

"Simon?"

Simon turned instinctively to the female voice calling out his name and froze when he saw a sickly, pale, dark-haired girl staring expectantly at him.

"Lucy." He said, voice shaking slightly before he shook his head at himself and reminded himself he was no longer shy, scared Simon anymore. "I didn't know you were still at the hospital."

Lucy nodded and took an immediate step forward, eyes shining with something close to hunger and Simon found himself taking a step back.

"No, don't let me take you away from what you're doing..." He said quickly, but she was still advancing on him.

"Simon, you alright?" Came Alisha's voice from beside him, his head whipped to her and she seemed to pick up on the unease in his eyes and stared Lucy down.

"Err...I think you better back off." She said pointedly.

"Alisha..."

"I've been waiting for you, Simon, for so long." Lucy continued, voice so low it was almost eerie and a hint of moisture teasing her eyes.

Simon was met with the marred feelings of guilt and fear inside of him, he noticed Curtis and Nathan bounding up to them in his periphery.

"Why didn't you come to visit me?" She asked, voice accusing.

Simon shut his eyes, sincerely wishing that this conversation was happening anywhere but in front of everyone stood around him.

"I couldn't go back." He said, so quietly it was barely above a whisper. But he meant it, when he'd left the ward, he'd left for good. He couldn't return. Maybe if it were Nathan he were leaving behind, he might have had the strength but not her.

A tear fell down her cheek as if she had read his thought process and Simon almost wanted to reach out and comfort her but also wanted to bolt from the room.

"But I loved you." Was all she said through her tears, "I still love you."

The room was deathly silent and Simon knew he should have said something but the words just didn't come out. Instead, he merely watched as she turned on her heel and ran out of the community centre, suddenly consciously aware of all the other eyes on him.

Without looking at anyone, he walked straight from the room, too, turning in the opposite direction that she went in and walking straight to the locker rooms. The minute he was there, he sat down on one of the benches and let his face fall into his hands, he knew he wasn't going to cry but he definitely wasn't okay.

He didn't look up when he heard the quiet pad of footsteps walk up to him but was fairly sure who had sought him out.

"Simon," came Nathan's soft brogue. "Are you okay?"

Simon took his face from his hands and stared up at Nathan, taken aback slightly by his wide eyes and worried expression.

"Yeah." He said quietly, it wasn't precisely a lie but he'd been better.

Nathan sighed as he sat down next to him and leant forward on his elbows.

"What was that all about?" He finally asked and Simon smiled at the jealousy clipping his voice.

"You know what I was like before," Simon started quietly, finding he couldn't quite look at his boyfriend as he spoke. "I wasn't in a very good place, I didn't have any friends, I...after I tried to burn that guy's house down, they put me in St. James' psychiatric ward for evaluation before they decided I was sane enough to do community service. When I was in there, I met that girl, Lucy, she seemed lonelier than me and we were friends. I promised her I'd come and see her when I got out but I just couldn't go back."

He kept his eyes lowered and watched as Nathan's hand snaked out and took his own, Simon was grateful for the comforting contact and looked up to see the Irishman smiling sadly at him.

"You're not that person anymore," he told him softly, "you don't have to feel bad about your past."

"As pasts go, it's a pretty good one." He muttered.

"What, because I'm such a flower?" Nathan supplied with a snort. "I was an obnoxious arsehole, I mean, granted, I'm still an obnoxious arsehole but look at the way I used to treat everybody, the way I used to treat you. If you were that troubled in the past, it's only because people like me existed to make you that way."

Simon suddenly found himself squeezing Nathan's hand tighter and huddling into him.

"This isn't your fault." He assured him. "It's not."

"I know." Nathan replied. "My point is, we all have shit we've come away from, I'm never gonna judge you for that. You know I wouldn't." With that, he leant forward and pressed a soft, comforting kiss to Simon's lips and Simon smiled, feeling immensely better. The pair laughed softly as they broke apart, hands still entwined.

"One thing that has pissed me off, though," Nathan finally voiced.

"What?" Asked Simon.

"You have a crazy stalker whose in love with you."

Simon sighed heavily. "I promise you have nothing to worry about," he assured him, voice faltering. "I might, mind."

"Don't worry," Nathan grinned, "I'll kick her ass."

"Now you get all 'over-protective boyfriend'..." Simon muttered.

"Seriously, though." Nathan began, sobering. "If she gives you any grief, don't keep it from me, yeah?"

Simon nodded. "Of course I wouldn't, we're in this together. But don't worry," he leant in and pecked him on the lips again, "I doubt I'll bump into her again."

…

Simon prepared to eat his words as he tried to leave the community centre later that day and was stopped by Lucy standing in the corridor, staring at him.

"Jesus Christ." He shouted, stepping back suddenly. "You scared me."

"You seem different." She observed, cocking her head to the side and narrowing her eyes.

"I am." Was all Simon said. "Goodnight." He attempted to walk past her but Lucy's hand flew out and grabbed his arm in a claw-like grip.

"Ow, ow, Lucy, let me go!" He shook her off. "What are you doing?" He asked angrily. "You can't do that to people, you know they'll never let you out if you do!"

"I don't want them to let me out!" She spat, "the real world isn't for people like you and me, I want you to come back with me."

"That's never going to happen." He said, calling on some of his new-found, personality-altering confidence. "I'm never going back, I'm not that person anymore. I've changed, for the better. If you get the right help, Lucy, then you can change as well."

"What happened to you?" She asked accusingly. "You used to like the ward, you used to like me. You can't leave me like this, I love you, I know you love me, too."

Simon felt bad, because it wasn't in his nature to intentionally hurt innocent people, and sighed and took a step forward. "Look, Lucy, you were my friend, and I'm sorry things happened the way they did, but I don't love you. I love someone else."

"Someone else?" She asked quietly.

Simon nodded gently. "Yes, someone else. I'm happy. For the first time in my life, I'm genuinely happy. If you really loved me, you would want that for me."

He smiled softly at her before walking around her and out of the door of the community centre, feeling like he'd really just accomplished something.

What he didn't realise was that he was leaving behind a very hurt and very unstable and very powerful young woman, hell-bent on destroying whoever had taken Simon's love from her.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Lucy spied Simon, her precious, perfect Simon, stood with some  _boy._ He was tall and lanky, with a mop of curly black hair and he was grinning stupidly. Not attractive, at all. When he leant in and kissed him on the lips, Lucy had to duck out of the way so she wouldn't make a sound and be discovered.

She felt the anger rise within her and her skin rippled over its skeleton. So  _that_ was the person, the man who'd taken Simon's love from her. Well, she'd get her revenge.

When she peeked back around to the front of the community centre, the tall one was gone but Simon was walking inside. She quietly followed him.

She watched as he took a left and jogged after him, staying at the corner and peering round and seeing him enter a locker room and open a locker, pulling out one of those hideous orange jumpsuits.

Taking a step back so that she was completely concealed, she let her head rest against the wall and winced in anguish.

She hated watching that man kiss her Simon, hated the way that he let him. She should have been the one who was able to touch him, not  _him. Her._

An idea sprang into her head and she grinned to herself, stepping away from the wall and kick-starting the painful transformation – she held her lips tightly shut to avoid shouting out until they they weren't her lips anymore.

She looked down at her hands and saw the large, pale hands of the man she'd seen with Simon.

If this was the only way to touch him – for now – then so be it.

She sauntered around the corner into the locker room as best she could, finding it hard to manoeuvre being suddenly so tall.

She cast a quick glance to herself in the locker room mirror on the wall and saw dark curls and blue eyes staring inquisitively back at her.

"Nathan?"

Lucy turned to see Simon staring at her with his head cocked to one side, confusion in his eyes and tried to put on a convincing smile.

"I thought you were meeting Kelly?"

"I wanted to see you more." She said, surprising herself at the soft Irish accent that slipped out and trying to keep the emotion from her – his – face.

Simon smiled bashfully as he looked at the ground and Lucy felt mixed emotions, joy that he was looking at her that way and anger that he  _wasn't_ looking at her that way.

She unconsciously found herself reaching a hand out, desperate to touch him and then Simon smiled widely at her and took it in his own.

She felt her breath hitch in her throat and suddenly it wasn't enough, she wanted more. She wanted him.

She found herself instinctively sliding down on her knees, the Irish man's superior height made her level with Simon's crotch and she snaked her hands out and began to unbutton his jeans.

"Nathan...!" Simon called out, sounding alarmed and pulling back slightly. His voice was low as if desperate not to let anyone else hear. "What are you doing?"

"Just being a good boyfriend," she replied coyly in that accent of his, breath hitching as she pulled his soft dick from the confines of his boxer shorts.

"Nathan," Simon hissed, "anyone could walk in!"

She forced herself to glance up at him, grin and say; "that's half the fun," before surging forward and taking the head of his cock into her mouth.

Simon immediately flailed above her, she heard the crash of his hand grasping desperately at the metal locker beside him as she took more and more of his thickening member into her mouth, humming in strange contentment as she felt it throb against her tongue.

She suckled hard, barely even moving, just desperate to have Simon there and keep him there for as long as she could, but it wasn't long until he was coming – shooting thick ropes to the back of her throat and making her gag. She tried her best not to choke but could feel her eyes stinging with tears, this 'Nathan' would have way more experience and he would never gag. But then what were the odds of Simon ever discovering the truth?

She'd tell him about powers, and the storm, all in good time, all when he was hers. But right now, he was so innocent and she wanted him to remain that way.

She immediately clambered to her feet, throat and eyes still stinging but Simon's eyes were still closed as he rode out the aftershocks.

She allowed herself to press one soft kiss to his open mouth before she turned and skidded out of the locker room, running into the nearest bathroom.

She scrubbed uselessly at her face for a moment before she growled and looked in the mirror, hating the sight of the young man who looked back at her.

She nearly screamed as her skin rippled and she transformed into her normal self. She looked forward and examined her form quizzically – she was still very much dark-haired and pale, perhaps Simon had a type?

She wiped the come from her chin and stared at her reflection, she'd had a taste now but it wasn't enough.

She wanted him. And there was only one way to do that.

She had to kill Nathan.

…

When Simon had opened his eyes again the locker room had been empty and he rolled his eyes to himself, that was very Nathan, to sneak up on him and then fuck off again.

He could feel his heart beating at what they'd just done but he also felt oddly exhilarated.

He changed into his jumpsuit with shaking fingers and exited the locker room, he found the rest of the gang, Nathan included, hanging together at the entrance.

Simon immediately looped one hand around Nathan's waist and dragged him just far off so no one would hear his low voice.

"Woah, hey, Simon, what's up?" Nathan asked, staring quizzically down at him.

"Don't you think that was a bit risky?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

Nathan looked nonplussed. "What was risky?" He asked.

"That!" Simon reiterated, trying to keep his voice low as he pointed to the building. "In the locker room, you know what I said about public sex."

Nathan's brow furrowed heavily. "Simon, you're not making any sense. What about sex?"

"The blowjob." Simon replied, as if it were obvious. "Nath, it's not funny, you acting all coy. Anyone could have caught you sucking me off back then."

But Nathan's expression told Simon that he wasn't being coy. He wasn't pretending, he wasn't joking.

"Nathan...?"

"I didn't do anything." Nathan said slowly, eyes hard. "I was here, I went to meet Kelly, that's what I told you."

"But..." Simon said quickly, eyebrows furrowing as he tried desperately to remember what had just happened. "You were in the locker room, you said you wanted to see me."

"I...wasn't in the locker room, Simon." Nathan assured him, looking decidedly concerned.

"But, you were."

"I wasn't."

"But you  _had_ to be."

"But I  _wasn't_."

Nathan turned to Kelly, who was still chatting to Curtis and Alisha a little way off. "Kelly, have I been out of your sight since I got here?"

Kelly looked confused but replied, "no."

Simon's blood ran cold. "But then...what's happened?"

"What's going on?" Curtis asked, turning to them. Alisha was staring questioningly at the pair as well.

"Oh crap." Was all Simon said.

"What?" Asked Kelly.

"I think there's someone else with a power here."

…

The five of them sat in a circle of plastic chairs in the empty community centre hall, Nathan had his eyes trained on Simon as he spoke.

"I saw Nathan in the locker room." Simon explained. "He came in, he spoke to me, he..." He swallowed, Nathan frowned.

"I wasn't there." Nathan said immediately. "Seriously, I know I play jokes and that but I haven't been in the locker room today." He fisted the front of his print t-shirt. "Look, no jumpsuit."

"Then who was in the locker room with you?" Asked Alisha, arms crossed and staring at Simon.

"I don't know." Simon replied, "but it might be someone with a power."

"Like the power to change shape?" Curtis asked. "Like one of them shapeshifter things off tv shows."

Simon didn't reply.

Kelly cocked her head to one side. "What did they say to you?" She asked.

Simon remained silent.

"Come on," she said, sitting a little straighter in her chair. "If it was pretending to be Nathan, and it came to you, it obviously knows shit about us. What did it do?"

Simon's eyes hit the floor and Nathan felt a pit open in his stomach as he remembered precisely what Simon had said to him outside.

"Did it suck you off?" He asked disbelievingly.

There was silence around the room and Simon tentatively looked up, catching Nathan staring emotionlessly at him before nodding his head.

Nathan ran a hand through his hair and sat back in his seat, looking away.

"Well then it knows about us," he said quickly, sounding exasperated. "It knew about me and Simon, it's been watching us. It could be anyone we know."

"Nathan..." Simon attempted softly but Nathan still wasn't looking at him.

"But why would anyone do that?" Kelly asked, sounding confused. "Why would someone disguise themselves as Nathan just to give you a blowjob?"

Simon felt himself go red.

"Maybe they fancied you?" Alisha pointed out. "Has anyone come onto you in the past few days, you know, and you knocked them back?"

Suddenly, instead of desperately looking anywhere else, Nathan was staring at Simon with raised eyebrows. As if trying to convey an obvious message through his stare.

Simon only had to look at him for a few moments until he seemingly understood his thought process.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"What?" Asked Kelly.

Simon suddenly looked very troubled and his back straightened against his chair and he did something that surprised Nathan: he patted his hair down. That passive, stress-worry move Simon used to always make before they got together and Nathan found his heart going out to him. Simon had been tricked, now he was scared and Nathan had the gall to be mad at him?

"There was this girl," Simon was suddenly explaining. "She's with that art therapy class that's here. She cornered me the other day...I think she's in love with me."

Curtis' brow furrowed. "Why would she be in love with you?" He asked quizzically.

"They knew each other at school." Nathan quickly piped up. "Before she got sectioned." Nathan's gaze met Simon's, his eyes were gentle. "You told me that, didn't you?" He asked softly.

Simon nodded wordlessly but kept his eyes locked on Nathan, knowing that he'd just said that for no other reason than to protect Simon, to save him from having to divulge his embarrassing past to his friends. If anything, it just made the guilt he was feeling over his rendezvous in the locker room worsen.

"So this girl is like a shapeshifter?" Alisha clarified, looking confused. "And she's obsessed with Simon so she turned into Nathan to...what...get to you?"

"I don't know." Simon admitted honestly. "We might not even be right about any of this."

"Well those art therapy lot should be in later," Kelly offered, "we can follow her, find out."

"I think that's an excellent idea." Nathan replied with a grimace. "I wouldn't mind a word with that bitch myself."

…

They were all sat on the floor of the entrance corridor, backs against the walls and waiting for the art therapy class to arrive.

Nathan and Kelly were sat on one side of the corridor while Curtis, Alisha and Simon were sat on the other side. Simon felt an odd distance between them and he hated it. Nathan was fiddling with a can of diet coke and looking mightily pissed down at it.

"She might not show up." Alisha sighed.

"She will." Simon replied rather darkly. No one asked how he knew but he was glad for it. It was because she'd be with the psych ward and the attendings wouldn't let anyone out of their sight for a moment.

Simon had only attended for a couple of weeks and had hated it, he couldn't fathom why Lucy would want to stay. His eyes settled on Nathan and it occurred to him that he had things on the outside that she didn't. A second chance.

He stood immediately and crossed the corridor, sinking down beside Nathan. He and Kelly hadn't been speaking but she still turned her head away to give them some semblance of privacy.

"Nathan, I'm sorry." Simon said, voice low and earnest. "I'm so sorry, this is my fault. I should have known."

Nathan smiled shallowly back at him but there was something close to appreciation in his eyes, like he was glad Simon had apologised, or said something, at least.

"It's okay." He assured him. "I'm pissed, yeah, but not at you. It wasn't your fault." His hand found Simon's between them. "We're too strong, and we've gone through way too much, for some fucked up freak to break us down."

"Please don't snog." Curtis said immediately and a chuckle rippled around the group.

The feeling of goodwill was short-lived, however, as the entrance doors opened and two white-clad attendings entered followed by a small group of young adults.

Kelly, Curtis, Alisha, Simon and Nathan all stood but stayed pressed against the wall. Simon's breath hitched when he noticed Lucy pulling up the rear, preoccupied with running her fingers through her thick hair to de-knot it. Simon swallowed involuntarily until he felt the pressure of Nathan's hand on his own and turned to see the reassuring look on the Irish man's face. They nodded to each other and waited around thirty seconds for the rest of the group to file into the hall before Simon dropped Nathan's hand and stood in front of Lucy, blocking her pathway.

She halted when she saw them all in front of her, staring at Simon for the longest time before her gaze flitted to Nathan and her nostrils flared. Nathan was so taken aback for a moment that he momentarily forgot he was mad, but then she turned back to Simon and her expression softened and he remembered. His eyes narrowed.

"Lucy," Simon began steadily, a confidence in his tone that he would never have been able to muster before. "Do you have a power?"

She looked suddenly startled and clenched her fists together. "How do you know about that?" She asked, voice low. "You aren't supposed to know about that!"

"Alright, freak." Alisha began, crossing her arms. "No one likes a slut, did you go after Simon this morning?"

"We know about the shapeshifting." Nathan began. In fact, they didn't at all know about the shapeshifting but the fear and anger in her eyes merely confirmed it. He felt the ire rise within him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked rhetorically, surging forwards. "That's my boyfriend, you skank!"

Simon put a hand to Nathan's chest and stilled him. "Nathan..." He tried quietly.

"He belongs with me!" Lucy shouted in their general direction, shocking them all as her skin rippled over her form grotesquely and her eyes darkened until they were nothing but inky slits magnified by her pale face. She sent one angry look in Simon's direction before she bolted in the other direction, the way to the locker rooms. It took them a split second to react until they were chasing after her.

All five of them skidded into the locker room but it was empty.

"We need to stay together!" Simon said suddenly, whipping his head around. "She's a shapeshifter, she could pretend to be any one of us."

"But she could be anywhere," Kelly pointed out, "we need to split up, else we'll never find her."

"Oi, I thought I told you lot to help out with the art therapy class."

They all whipped around to find the probation worker stood there, staring quizzically at them.

The five of them regarded him worriedly, exchanging glances with each other.

He raised his eyebrow. "Alright, whatever the fuck's going on, I really don't give a shit. So just get to the therapy class, yeah?" He glanced at them curiously for another moment before walking out of the locker room.

"Can't have been her." Curtis pointed out sullenly. "How would the crazy girl know he's a miserable prick."

"Well, she spied on us." Simon pointed out. "she could have spied on him, too."

"The point is, we don't know what she knows, so..."

"Hold up," Nathan suddenly pointed out, laughing and turning to Kelly. "Just read his mind, you'll hear her thoughts, surely."

"I can give it a go." Kelly shrugged. "Dunno if it'll work though, this fucking power picks its moments."

"Tell me about it." Curtis rolled his eyes.

The five of them sneaked around the corner and saw the back of the probation worker as he spoke to someone else.

Kelly stared at him with a look of concentration for the longest moment until her expression cleared and she turned to them.

"No, it's not him."

Simon rolled his eyes and turned back the way they'd came, turning the corner to go back into the locker room and stopped.

He froze as he saw the unconscious body of Kelly lying face down in the corridor.

He turned back immediately to warn everyone and the sight that greeted him made his blood run cold.

Kelly, or rather, Lucy, was stood with a kitchen knife to Nathan's throat. Alisha and Curtis were stood back, frozen in fear.

"Lucy, oh my God, put the knife down." Simon said, trying to keep his voice calm and inching towards them.

"He took you from me," she said in Kelly's voice, "I need to take you back!"

Nathan didn't manage to get a sound out as the knife was slashed across his throat and blood spurted from the wound.

Simon shouted loudly and launched himself forward, pushing Lucy away as Nathan collapsed against the wall, gagging.

In the next moment, the knife clattered to the ground and Lucy was running in the opposite direction, Curtis took off after her immediately and Alisha spared them one quick glance before following.

Simon skidded to Nathan as he collapsed to the floor, gathering him up in his arms, watching through the tears in his eyes as blood seeped through the wound while Nathan gagged, and then he was limp and lifeless in his arms.

As Simon looked down on him, cheeks wet and throat sore, his fingers shook as he touched his face. Despite the fact that Simon knew Nathan would wake up in a minute or two, the pain was still raw within him. Watching Nathan die was never going to get any easier, no matter how much it happened.

Alisha and Curtis rounded the corner, saying something about Kelly, but Simon was still distracted by the cold and lifeless form he was holding and something else that had to occurred to him in that moment.

That if he never went back in time, if he never protected Nathan from the guy who was immune to powers then this would be the reality.

Nathan would be stone dead, forever, and it would be all Simon's fault.

Alisha and Curtis took Kelly away, presumably to look after her until she woke up, but Simon stayed with Nathan, forgetting that all anyone had to do was walk around the corner and then he'd have a whole load of explaining to do.

It was around twenty minutes later that the bloodied wound on Nathan's neck tinged pink with life and began to sow itself back together.

The colour rose up Nathan's cheeks and then his eyes were fluttering open, he took one quick breath before his hands shot out and he was clinging to Simon.

"Hey, hey...it's okay..." Simon tried to soothe, reaching out and stroking Nathan's cheek, accidentally wiping some of his blood on his skin.

"Simon..." Nathan breathed out. "God...what happened?" He attempted to move but Simon stilled him.

"Hold on a sec, okay?" Simon asked gently. "You've lost a lot of blood."

Nathan nodded at him and then smiled tiredly yet gratefully up at him. When Simon blinked, he noticed tears were still falling from his eyes.

Nathan looked quizzically up at him but Simon merely shook his head, and cradled him, telling him not to worry.

But in his mind, something else was going on entirely.

In his mind, he made a promise to himself.

He vowed, there and then, that he had to go back.

 


	16. Chapter 16

Simon donned the ski mask before making his way to the top of the building. He grinned to himself when he successfully vaulted over the railing at the edge and made his way to the top without incident. He'd tried that same move a few days ago only to practically impale himself on the metal railing, he still had the cuts on his side to show it.

He looked around himself, feeling, literally, on top of the world before he turned on his heel and jogged to the far end of the rooftop.

He looked across to an adjoining building, and the jump between which was only a few feet.

He took a deep breath, shaking off the fear as he assured himself that he could do this. He couldn't die now if he was alive in the future. But he could still get very hurt.

Shaking the thought off, Simon ran for the gap and launched himself. He went flying through the air and it was incredible for about five seconds until he landed awkwardly on his ankle and lost his footing, collapsing to the ground.

He turned himself on his back, pulling the mask over his face and laughing into the sky.

He'd made it, the other roof.

He couldn't help grinning at these little victories until he pushed himself to his feet and hissed in pain at the weight on his ankle.

He held his foot in the air for a moment, willing the spasms to subside but when he pressed his foot gently to the ground again, painful spikes shot through him and he had to clamp his mouth shut to stop a shout coming out.

As much as he wished to continue his training for that day, he couldn't very well do so on a twisted ankle so resigned, he hobbled to the roof entrance and made his way inside of the building.

Once he was on the staircase, and checking around to make sure that he was alone, he allowed himself to become visible once more.

The force of using his power caused him to fall against the wall, hissing as he knocked his injured ankle in the process. He could already feel it swelling in his boot.

He hated being as practical as he was but he couldn't continue training right now when he was hurt like this, plus, there was also the matter of Nathan having no idea where he was right now.

He grimaced to himself, partially in pain but partially for the self-loathing he was feeling, before he hopped, one legged, down the staircase, praying he didn't meet anyone along the way.

…

There was celebration in the air, even though no one else on the council estate could feel it, and also because no one else cared, didn't mean it wasn't there.

Nathan grinned to himself as he felt Kelly sling an arm around his shoulder and pull him into a side hug, he spotted Curtis putting a clothed arm around Alisha across the road.

He wished Simon were with them but even that couldn't dampen his mood.

"We should go have a drink, to celebrate." Curtis informed them loudly.

"I think that's a great idea." Nathan replied immediately.

"Get Simon to come join us," Alisha called over to him, "where is he anyway?"

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Fucking idiot sprained his ankle on some stairs the other day." He told them, smiling fondly at the memory of Simon blushing as he explained his injury and hobbled around the flat. "I told him to rest it up."

"He has to come out for a drink," Kelly said quickly, "come on, we have to celebrate this. Community service is fucking over, mate."

Nathan conceded with a nod as Curtis and Alisha 'whoop'ed across the road.

"Alright, fine, fine, fine."

As they made their way to the local pub on the estate, Nathan pulled out his phone and texted Simon:

_You've been summoned, celebratory drinks on the estate, go careful on your foot xxx_

…

Nathan was the first one to the bar when they got inside the door of the pub, offering to get the first round in.

Alisha raised her eyebrow at Kelly. "Is it me, or did he get less of a wanker?" She asked quietly.

"I guess Simon's good for him." Kelly voiced. "Remember? He was fucking miserable?"

"I guess a good bloke can get you through anything," Alisha said absent-mindedly, eyes wandering over Curtis getting them a table across the room before narrowing in another direction. When she turned back to Kelly, she was grinning.

"What?" Kelly asked.

"There is a proper hot guy over there, staring at you." She said, voice low.

Kelly, forehead furrowed, looked over her shoulder to see the aforementioned hot guy, mainly because he stood out against all the other council estate lot in the pub.

And he was hot. Dressed in black, some kind of tribal tattoo on his neck, combed back dark blond hair and dark, sultry eyes that were staring right at her.

"Well, he ain't subtle." She said.

Alisha nudged her. "Go say hi."

"What? No!" Kelly said, voice low but full of desperation.

Alisha sent a subtle glance over to the handsome stranger. "Come on, he's well fit. You gotta, for me."

Kelly sent one look to Alisha's pleading face before she was rolling her eyes and sighing. "Fine." Was all she said before she made her way over to him.

"All right?" She said by way of salutation when she approached him, looking around herself. "You want something?"

He shocked her by smiling, rather shyly, before answering her. "I wanted to buy you a drink." He replied, in a soft London accent.

She pursed her lips together to fight off a smile. "Alright," she said, "I'm Kelly."

He smiled at her again, she liked his smile.

"My name is Seth."

…

Nathan glanced at Kelly chatting to some hot guy across the pub and narrowed his eyes.

"Who is that?" He asked Curtis stood next to him.

"Dunno." Curtis shrugged. "One of Kelly's mates? Look, you've got your own boyfriend to worry about."

At his words, Nathan turned his head to see Simon walking precariously through the pub door.

Nathan bounded over to him in a few strides before he'd even gotten inside and had dragged him back out again.

"Nathan, what...?" But Simon couldn't finish his sentence before he felt Nathan's insistent lips against his own, kissing him hungrily for what felt like several minutes.

Simon found himself immediately lost in the kiss, his brain went foggy as Nathan became the only thing in his world for a few moments before Nathan pulled back, grinning breathlessly at the glazed over look in Simon's eyes.

"Hi." Simon said eventually, sounding dazed as he looked back up to him.

"Hi." Nathan replied, laughing, before throwing his arms around him. "Sorry for jumping on you, I just miss you. We haven't seen a lot of each other in the last few days."

Simon knew the reason for that. Because he'd spent most of his time training, in secret. He hated himself for lying to him, and he'd never felt more guilty about anything but he was doing this for Nathan, for Nathan's life. Wasn't that the whole point of him?

"I know," Simon said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I've just been busy."

Nathan's smile dropped and he went quiet for a moment. He took Simon's hand in his own and caught his gaze again.

"Look, I know, okay, I know the incident with the crazy girl freaked you out."

The bone-tingling fear that had rocked through Simon dissipated and he let out a sigh of relief, that was mixed with a feeling of abject guilt that Nathan was being so perceptive and understanding and caring.

"But it's over," Nathan continued.

"But she got away," Simon pointed out glumly, "she could be anywhere, she could be anyone. She could try again."

"If she does, then we'll deal with it." Nathan smiled. "Together, like we deal with everything. But right here, right now, everything is fine, you're fine, and I'm fine. I'm right here." As if to prove his point, Nathan took the hand of Simon's he was holding and pressed it against the warm plane of his chest.

Simon's breath hitched in his throat as he felt the gentle thud of his heart under his skin.

"I'm here." Nathan assured him, voice lower than before.

Simon surged forward and kissed him again, still feeling the beating under his fingertips. The beating, the lifeblood that he had to preserve.

…

Kelly joined them at the bar with a pleased grin on her face.

"Who was that guy?" Curtis asked.

"Just some guy," Kelly shrugged, acting nonchalant. Nathan grinned across at Simon.

"I think we should propose a toast." Simon said suddenly, holding his drink aloft. "To the end of community service, to the end of the most crazy yet somehow boring times of our lives."

Everyone laughed as they raised their drinks into the toast.

And the drinking continued, long into the night. Simon, never having been that social in the first place, stuck to beer all night but Nathan turned onto shots with the rest of them and by the time they all decided to go home, in the early hours of the morning, Nathan was decidedly more tipsy than his boyfriend.

"Come on, come on..." Simon rolled his eyes as he heaved Nathan into the flat, dragging him in the direction of the bed until they collapsed against it.

Nathan giggled to himself as they did.

Simon chuckled, happily buzzed at the evening they'd just had, before he attempted to get up but instead, Nathan pulled him back down and grinned as he rolled over him.

Simon's eyes fluttered closed as Nathan began to press butterfly kisses to his exposed collarbone for a moment until he gently pushed him away.

"Come on," he said, laughing. "You need to sleep."

"Oh, you're a spoil sport." Nathan grumbled good-naturedly, rolling off of him again and staring at the ceiling.

Simon shifted until he was on his front and their eyes met.

"I will kiss you again, though." Simon said coyly, grinning as he leant forward and pressed a long, lingering kiss to Nathan's lips, enjoying the slight warmth and softness there.

When he pulled back, Nathan's eyes had fluttered closed.

Simon rested on his elbows and smiled sadly down at him before lying on his side, hands coming up to rest on Nathan's chest.

At the contact, Nathan opened his eyes and inclined his head to Simon, forehead creasing immediately.

"What's wrong?" He asked sleepily.

"What do we do now?" Simon all but whispered, expression unreadable.

"We get on with our lives," Nathan said quietly, "like normal people..."

"But we're not normal people." Simon replied, equally as quietly but it was futile, Nathan was already asleep. His lids slipped closed and his chest began to rise and fall in the gentle rhythm that Simon was used to.

Simon, good mood gone, wished he could just fall asleep like that too. Beside Nathan, and just as happy and contented, but as he shifted he felt a twinge in his ankle, almost like a forceful reminder of everything that was wrong with what should have been their perfect, new beginning.

He eased himself away from the sleeping form before padding to the kitchen, shedding his shirt as he went.

He quickly changed into a pair of loose-fitting night trousers before he fumbled around quietly in one of the cupboards for some over the counter painkillers.

He leant against the counter as he took them, bringing a glass of lukewarm water to his mouth for a solitary sip and wincing.

He placed the glass down on the side and looked around himself, and that was when the tears began to well in his eyes.

"What should I do?" He asked quietly, desperately, fighting off the moisture on his cheeks.

But, of course, no one answered.

 


	17. Chapter 17

"Please don't tell me you cooked." Curtis asked, eyes weary, as Nathan plonked some white plastic containers on the table in front of them, laughing as he did so.

"No, that's Simon. I'm afraid, he's the useless housewife."

Simon pulled a face at Curtis from across the table and he laughed, circling an arm around Alisha's clothed waist as she pulled one of the containers towards her.

"Ooh, chow mein!" She exclaimed happily.

The hefty metal lift door was pulled roughly aside and Kelly walked in, Nathan immediately scrambled to her and pulled it the remaining way.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly, "it's a little heavy."

"Woah." Kelly said, looking up at the ceiling lights and grinning hugely before taking in the open-planned, overly grey space and all of their friends sat around the table in the kitchen. "This place is fucking awesome." She said.

"I know, it's well nice." Curtis commented as Kelly and Nathan sat down. He looked at Simon. "Where did you find this place?"

"A friend." Simon lied easily, smiling as he accepted food. Nathan noted that he no longer blushed or stuttered, everything about him seemed very calm and natural. Simon had changed so much since they'd gotten together. It used to scare Nathan, because every step Simon took towards becoming his future self, it was a step closer to leaving him and dying. But now that Simon had promised never to go back, and they had a chance to find something close to happiness, Nathan felt like he was allowed to admire his boyfriend having a little bit of self confidence.

It was true that Simon was more like his future self than his past self but it didn't feel like they were the same person. The only way Nathan could really think to describe it was that his Simon, the future Simon, had been far more regal. He'd been happy and chirpy and everything but he'd had a weight on his shoulders, the constant burden of doing everything in order to save everyone. But his Simon, the present Simon, didn't have any of that. This was what happy and carefree Simon looked like, smiling and laughing over Chinese food.

But then part of that was because they were all sat around, with no community service, eating takeaway without the threat of death. Like real friends.

Kelly's phone suddenly pinged and she whipped it out of her pocket.

"Sorry," she said absent-mindedly as she answered the text and put her phone onto the table. They all lapsed back into conversation when Kelly's phone went off again, vibration jerking it against the table. She snatched it up and smiled at whatever was there before she began tapping in a reply.

"What are you smiling at?" Nathan asked, eyebrow raised as he shoved an entire prawn cracker in his mouth.

"I bet it's that hot guy from the bar." Alisha pointed out, waggling her eyebrows.

Kelly put her phone down and stared at them, but instead of ripping all kinds of shit out of them, as they'd been accustomed to, she instead blushed and picked her phone back up.

"Oh my God, it is!" Alisha laughed.

"Wayyy!" Curtis, Nathan and Simon chorused unintentionally, all laughing.

"Shut up." Kelly muttered.

"I think I missed this." Simon admitted, leaning forward. "What hot guy in the bar?"

"Yeah, Kel, what hot guy in the bar?" Nathan asked, tongue in cheek.

Kelly began to explain but gave Nathan a good whack across the arm first.

"His name is Seth." She told them all, suddenly looking a little troubled. "I think he's got a power but I don't know what it is yet."

The group fell silent as they all began to aimlessly figure out what his power could possibly be.

Nathan's thoughts, naturally, went to himself.

"Maybe he's immortal?" He asked, eyes widening. "Just bury him, you'll find out."

Simon shook his head but all Nathan did was laugh and sling an arm around his shoulder.

"You love me really."

"I really don't."

"Oh, but you really do."

And with that, he planted a gentle kiss to Simon's lips. Simon immediately heard the rest of them erupt into complaints about P.D.A but smiled against Nathan's skin. Despite everything they'd gone through and how weird and unconventional their relationship was, there was still something about Nathan being proud to let everyone know they were together and that he was his boyfriend that made him glow. It made him feel normal in a world in which everything was very much not normal. And never could be.

…

Nathan got Kelly's text about needing his help and he wasn't sure exactly how to take it.

Did she want his help because she'd fallen down the stairs and broken her back or because a fuse plug had burnt out?

When she asked him to meet her on the corner of the estate, he was forced to rule out the stairs.

As Nathan approached, he saw her leaning against the grey, stained wall of one of the block of flats and waved over to her.

She beckoned him over to her hurriedly and he frowned.

"What is it, what's wrong?" He asked her quietly as he approached.

She held a finger to her lips to silence him and pointed across the street. He watched, confused, as a not particularly expense looking silver car parked up across the street and a man in a grey suit got out, walking into a building. He kept his eye trained on the unknown man until he was out of sight, wondering what could possibly be wrong, until something sparked in his mind and he stared at her.

"That's that Seth guy?" He asked. "The one you fancy?"

She nodded and looked back at the door he'd gone through. "I think we should follow him."

Nathan rolled his eyes. He was about to tell her that this probably wasn't the best way to start a relationship until he remembered that he was in love with a paradoxical, time travelling superhero so shut his mouth.

"Hold up," Nathan said, craning his neck.

"What?" She asked.

"Look," he instructed, pointing back to the door Seth had gone through.

The pair watched as a light-haired man with his hands stuffed in his hoodie looked cautiously around himself before slipping through the same door.

Kelly frowned.

"Perhaps it's like a sleazy gay hookup." Nathan wondered aloud innocently.

"You can't say that." She said.

"Why not?" He asked, brow furrowing.

She gave him a dithering look. "Because you're gay now, you dick."

Nathan frowned. "Oh yeah."

Kelly sighed heavily before speaking again. "We should go in there."

"Yeah." Nathan said, jogging on the spot for a moment and raising his fists. "Yeah, lets go and kick all kinds of shit out of two homosexuals."

They walked to the door in silence but Nathan liked to think he saw Kelly laugh a little.

They both slipped in through the door, confused when they came upon a darkly lit waiting room with chairs against the wall and a table in the middle.

Before either of them could say a word, a bright, ethereal light shone around the edges of another door further down the room and they both ran for it, flinging the door open and bursting inside.

It was an office with a neat glass desk and the walls behind were lit in such a way that it reminded Nathan of his own ceiling. Seth was sat behind the desk, clasping the hand of the light-haired man and bright light seemed to be spilling from where their skin connected.

Then, after a moment, it was over.

Nathan blinked, eyes trying to adjust to the sudden darkness.

"Thanks, man." The light-haired man said to Seth, sounding grateful, but Seth had already noticed the pair of them standing there.

"Kelly." He said, surprise in his voice.

"Hey." She replied, dead-pan.

The light-haired man left in silence, leaving the three of them stood there and gaping at each other. Seth stood.

"Look, I know this looks weird..."

"Nah, you've got a power." Nathan said. "Old news."

Seth looked honestly shocked. "You've got powers?"

Nathan nodded. "Yep, I'm..." He grinned, putting a little flair in his voice. "I'm immortal, and Kelly here can read minds."

"What about you, what can you do?" Kelly asked, still staring at Seth.

He hesitated for a moment, palming his suit trousers before pointing to the seats in front of his desk and sitting back down himself.

"I can take powers out of people." He explained. "I can't use them myself but I can put them into other people. I was a dealer before this, it's like the same thing but with other powers."

"Did you take that guys power or did you give him one?" Kelly asked.

"I took it," he said. "Paid him ten grand for the privilege."

"What did he have?"

"Vast memory, the ability to remember everything he ever read or was told. Said it was driving him mad."

"So you take peoples powers but you can't use 'em? What do you do with them?" She asked.

"I sell them."

"To who?"

"Anyone whose interested." Seth explained. "And anyone with the cash."

"Hold on, so you're just giving out these bullshit powers to anyone who could do anything with them?" Kelly asked hotly.

"I take some safety precautions." Seth explained, seemingly undeterred by Kelly's fiery attitude. "I always make sure I know what they're gonna do with it. I make it as safe as I can. I swear."

Nathan, who had been uncharacteristically quiet up to this point, finally spoke up.

"You can take someone's power?" He clarified quietly. "Make them normal again?"

Seth looked at him and nodded before looking back to Kelly.

"Were you following me?" He asked.

She flushed suddenly. "I was just worried what you were doing, powers and everything."

"Plus, she likes you." Nathan voiced.

"Nathan!" Kelly shouted, going beetroot red, but Seth was smiling.

"I like you, too." He said, giving Kelly his full attentions.

Ever since getting with Simon, either or, Nathan had really begun to appreciate other men more and just how beautiful they could be and even he had to admit that there was something very sultry and sexy about the bad boy Seth and was grateful it wasn't him on the end of his magnetising stare.

"Do you want to go for a drink?" Seth asked Kelly, smiling shyly at her.

Kelly looked like she was deliberating for a moment before she smiled back. "All right." She said, trying to sound disinterested but failing.

The three of them walked back out into the cold sunshine, Nathan's retinas taking another bashing, and Nathan bid them farewell as they took to the pub on the estate and he headed back to the flat.

As he did so, he thought about Kelly and Seth getting together which made him think about his own relationship, not to mention some very recent developments in it.

He'd told Simon that he wanted them to have a normal life together, and that was still what he wanted, all he wanted, but every twist and turn reminded him that they weren't a normal couple, and it wasn't just Simon that was the reason for that.

How much of a normal life could you have with an immortal person?

Sure, at the beginning, it had been fun but in the long term, it wasn't practical.

Plus he wanted things now that he didn't want before, that he never thought he would ever have before.

What would be the point of forever if he didn't have Simon by his side?

In his head, he thought about houses and kids and schools, a normal life, a new start.

Simon had made so many sacrifices for them to be together like this that it only felt right that Nathan should make some of his own.

He smiled to himself as he turned on his heel and headed back the way he'd came. Back to Kelly.

Back to Seth.

 


	18. Chapter 18

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Seth asked, and he almost looked troubled.

Nathan rolled his eyes.

"Why the fuck do you care?" He asked dryly.

Seth shrugged. "Just...immortality. Seems like a massive thing to give up."

Nathan's hand, which was already extended to Seth as he'd seen the other guy do before, hesitated in the air.

"I know." Was all he said.

Seemingly noticing the shift in the air, Seth's eyes wavered for a moment before he coughed and clasped his hands, voice suddenly a few octaves lower.

"And, err, just a formality but: I need to know any instructions that come with the power."

Nathan was about to reply with a back hand comment but stopped himself, knowing if Simon were there he would look disapprovingly at him, plus this was Kelly's new beau, he figured he should try and be nice. He racked his brains for a moment, trying to figure out if there was anything he actually had to do to activate his power.

"Die." Was all he said.

"That's it?" Seth asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "Although..." His voice dipped. "Sometimes you see dead people."

"Dead people?"

"Well, their ghosts. It's not all the time, though."

Nathan wondered momentarily what would have happened if he'd been able to see the ghost of Simon after he'd died. He'd honestly wished for it once or twice in his grief-addled state, but had never told Simon that he had. He had been lonely and afraid and self-destructive but he was done with that now. Now was the time for the future.

Seth nodded and then looked expectantly at him. Nathan extended his hand and grasped Seth's. He winced, he supposed because he figured it would hurt, but it didn't. It was just a flash of blinding light and then it was over.

Nathan looked down at his free, powerless hand. He felt like he should have felt sadness or trepidation but the only thing he could think about was that he was absolutely doing this for all of the right reasons.

Shockingly, it put a smile on his face.

He thanked Seth and went to leave but the dealer called him back.

"What?" He asked, returning to the desk.

Seth reached under the desk and then produced two very thick wads of marked notes.

"Shit." Nathan said quietly.

"Ten grand. For the power." Seth reminded him.

Nathan stared at the money, not thinking of gambling and riches but instead seeing a ticket. Out of the city, to their own lives.

He smiled again.

…

Simon clambered onto the roof of the community centre, scowling to himself as he wished he possessed some of the finesse the guy in the mask had had. Simon had never watched him clamber on anything.

He pulled the ski mask from his face as he stood, looking around himself confusedly.

One of the first things Nathan had told him about his future self was that he often came into the community centre without Nathan's knowledge, so Simon had deduced that that had meant he'd broken in some how. He had to know how if he was going to become him.

He jumped swiftly onto the gentle incline of the raised rooftop and glanced at the ground, grinning to himself when he saw the skylight.

It was small, probably only two feet in diameter, but half of the pane of glass was missing with an almost surgical split down the middle.

Simon's brow furrowed, he knew he remembered such a broken window but had no idea why.

Shaking it off, he clasped at the sides of the skylight and lowered himself down through, he could see the varnished floor from where he was hanging but was scared to drop.

He took a deep breath and allowed himself to fall. His stomach flipped inside of him as he crouched, feet coming into contact with the floor.

His ankles absorbed the shock of the fall successfully and he smiled to himself as he straightened. He was getting better.

As he looked around himself, the memories of the broken skylight came flooding back to him.

He was in the main hall of the community centre and he'd spent months looking up at the crack and wondering when it was going to be fixed.

He turned on his heel, taking in the stacked chairs and looking out into the hall where he'd spent so much of his time. His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out if he missed it. Not just the community service, but a time before powers and superheroes.

As he continued to survey the expanse of the room he smiled as he realised that it was an easier time, but as his eyes lingered on the raised platform Nathan had called home for so many months, he realised that it was also a time that lacked love.

He felt a sudden, immeasurable guilt punch through him as he thought of Nathan, of going behind his back and training in secret, but the guilt was so familiar now that it was easy to push away. He knew, firmly, that everything he was doing was for Nathan, that every move he made ensured Nathan's safety and every step he took brought him one step closer to Nathan's salvation.

It also brought him one step closer to his own death, of being shot in the chest by a crazed northern freak, but that wasn't important.

His future self had saved Nathan, Simon wasn't going to undo all of that effort. He knew it wasn't what Nathan wanted but Nathan was blinded to what was good for him.

Simon was beginning to view himself as a role in Nathan's life. The man who protected him and delivered him to greater things. He wouldn't get to spend forever with Nathan, which hurt, but he'd got to love him, and be loved by him along the way. It was the best life Simon could ask for.

He took the front entrance out, not yet trusting himself to vault through the skylight, but made his way through the myriad of now familiar rooftops until he reached the flat.

He'd barely had time to change and stash away his suit before he heard the lift.

Simon looked up in shock as Nathan slammed the lift door shut and bolted to him, immediately enveloping him into a bear hug.

"Woah, hold on..." Simon laughed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend and hugging him back for a few moments until Nathan pulled away, giving him a big kiss on the lips before grinning stupidly at him.

"What's got you so giddy?" Simon asked.

Nathan bit his lip in anticipation before saying: "I did it. I sold my power to Seth."

Simon blinked.

"You...you  _sold your power?"_

Nathan nodded quickly. "Yeah, that Seth guy, the one Kelly's into, he can take your power and give it to someone else. He took mine, and he gave me ten grand for it. I thought it would be enough to put a deposit down on a real place..." Nathan halted in his cheerful babbling when he noticed that Simon's face had fallen and he wasn't sharing in his jubilant mood. "What?"

"You're not immortal anymore?" Simon asked worriedly.

Confused, Nathan shook his head. "No. I'm not immortal anymore. I'm just me. Is something wrong with that?"

"You can't get rid of your immortality, Nathan." Simon explained quickly, eyes wide with desperation. "You're immortal! It's a part of who you are!"

"Well, I did." Nathan clarified testily before his voice softened and he cupped Simon's face with his hands. "I don't need it. I don't die that much. Plus, now I have you here to protect me." He said the last part jokingly so wasn't expecting Simon to throw off his hold and stalk away.

Simon rubbed his face worriedly before turning back to face his very concerned boyfriend.

"And what about when I'm not around to protect you?" He asked hotly.

Nathan frowned. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't you be around?"

Simon looked away without answering and Nathan's eyes travelled over his form. The new muscles rippling under his skin and the confident stance with which he stood and then it all seemed to click into place. He felt a chill run down his spine as he considered every emotion he was feeling in that moment. Anger, dejection, betrayal.

"You always meant to go back?" He voiced emotionlessly. Despite his certainty that he was right, it still came out as a question because every fibre of his being was praying that he was mistaken.

But when Simon looked grimly back at him and said no word to correct him, Nathan let out a small squeak as he felt a wave of anxiety roll through his stomach.

It was only fair to say that Simon wasn't the only one who had changed since they'd gotten together, since the future Simon had come back. Nathan had undergone a transformation himself. He'd learnt what it was to love, and to be loved. He'd learnt that he didn't always have to be defensive and angry in response to emotionally compromising situations and had learnt, most importantly, to be open without being vulnerable or weak.

But the passionate fire that the future Simon had always so ardently admired about Nathan Young still burned brightly within him. So instead of crying or breaking down at the knowledge that the love of his life had lied to him, had betrayed him in such a way, he found himself getting angry, he found his anger making him strong and relied on that strength.

"You promised!" He found himself shouting forcefully, startling Simon. "How in the fuck am I supposed to trust you now?"

Simon walked swiftly across to him and Nathan momentarily wished they were in a time where Simon would have cowered and ran from such an onslaught but Simon had also learnt to fight back.

"Nathan, I'm sorry." Simon told him. "But I did it for you. I did it to save your life."

"But if you go back then you're going to die." Nathan said sharply, walking closer to Simon, desperate to get his point across.

"And if I don't go back." Simon countered calmly but with authority, "then you're going to die."

"That's fucking ridiculous." Nathan shot back. "I can't die in the past if I'm alive in the future. It doesn't work like that."

"Then why did I go back?" Simon responded suddenly. "The first time. What made me go back the first time?"

"I don't know." Nathan shook his head. "I don't care. You've always taught me to live in the moment, and the moment is now. This. What we have. If you wanna go back then you go back but don't you dare say you're doing it for me."

With that, Nathan stalked away, leaving Simon stood alone.

Nathan showered and when he'd dried and dressed, fully intending to meet Kelly or something, anything to get out of the flat, he found Simon sat on the patch of floor where he'd left him, staring broodingly at the ground.

Nathan approached him apprehensively.

"So you're mortal now?" Simon asked quietly as Nathan approached.

Nathan shrugged. "I've only got one life. I'm giving it to you."

Simon sighed and let his face fall into his hands before looking back up to Nathan staring worriedly at him, playing passively with the tag on his jacket and he knew it was what he wanted, everything he wanted and couldn't understand why he was taking every step to push it away, to lose everything his future self had lost. Everything his future self had given him.

There had to be some element of truth to Nathan's words, about being alive in the future.

There was always the chance he could fade away like Marty Mcfly in  _Back to the future_ but that was just a film. This was reality.

"I've been thinking." Simon admitted before sighing. "I pretend to know so much about this because I'm a sci fi geek but I don't know how any of this works. I don't understand the physics of time and space, and I'm going to stop trying."

He stood, facing Nathan.

"I don't know what's going to happen." He admitted earnestly. "Or when it's going to happen. But I do know that I love you, and you're right, there's only one now and I don't want to waste another second of it. If you want me to stay, then I'll stay."

Nathan found himself feeling bizarrely guilty that was keeping Simon from his own death before he mentally slapped himself and nodded.

"I want you to stay." He said, trying desperately not to feel selfish.

Simon nodded once. "I'll stay." He said evenly.

Nathan faltered. Realising that this, irrevocably, was the moment in which Simon became his future self. It was like he was stood right in front of him again.

At this point it had almost become his mantra that it was his love that made Simon into his future self. Simon had told him that once and he'd kept it with him, turning to it in times of need. But he'd always assumed that Simon had meant the relationship, the companionship, the sex...but now Nathan was fairly sure that he'd meant this moment. Nathan loving Simon enough to save him from himself.

He blinked as he organised these thoughts. Reminded unceremoniously of the times he'd had with Simon before, of the life he could have had if things had been different. The irony that he dearly missed the future he was doing everything in his power to prevent.

But he knew that he'd already fucked up one future with Simon and he wasn't going to do it again. This was his second chance.

Everyone deserved one.

 


	19. Chapter 19

Nathan and Simon sat, cross-legged, on the floor of the flat. Various food containers and paper debris surrounding them. Their hands were loosely clasped and Nathan delighted in the way Simon would clutch a little tighter every time he playfully shifted.

"You know, ten grand is enough money to move out of the city." Nathan mused quietly, staring contently at their hands rather than at Simon.

Simon, having only recently come to terms with the fact that he was leaving the fates to themselves regardless of any impending consequences, was ever so slightly surprised with Nathan's new attitude.

He was starting to learn that, even before Simon came along, despite Nathan's gob and confidence, he'd never been happy. Now he had a chance to find genuine contentment and Simon was happy to give him anything he wanted.

However, he still felt apprehensive as he imagined leaving the only home he'd ever known, even if it was a dump.

"You want to start again?" He asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

Nathan, still not looking at him, nodded. "I was thinking about moving to the country, living out there for a few years. Good place for fresh air."

Simon imagined it in his minds eye, the pair of them in a pretty cottage surrounded by woodland, probably only a few miles drive from the coast. It was vivid and picturesque and perfect.

"Good place for kids." He found himself muttering.

Nathan finally looked up at him, and Simon feared for his reaction, but Nathan surprised him by smiling shyly at him.

"That's what I was thinking as well." He admitted.

Simon considered the fact that something between them had definitely changed. That perhaps, under everything, this sweetheart had been the real Nathan all along. For some reason, he suddenly felt as if he could be totally open and honest with Simon without losing himself.

Simon closed the space between them and pressed his lips to Nathan. Nathan kissed him back immediately but when Simon pulled away, he noticed the confusion etched into his features.

"What was that for?" He asked, grinning.

"Because I can." Simon said, sounding pretty smug but Nathan's grin only widened as he launched forward and kissed him again.

…

Hand in hand again, the pair made their way to the pub on the estate for what Nathan called 'celebratory drinkies', but Simon was happy to oblige.

He was quite content to walk alongside his boyfriend as he swung their hands together, chatting nonsensically about their future together.

Simon turned his head when Nathan stopped walking suddenly, immediately seeing what had distracted him.

Kelly and Seth were stood outside of the entrance to the pub, arms around each other and very much lip-locked.

Nathan immediately brought his free hand to his lips and whistled suggestively at the pair of them, which Simon thought was pretty ironic considering that not five seconds ago he'd been talking of babies and dogs and nurseries.

Seth and Kelly broke apart and stared at them, Seth looked immediately embarrassed and blushed heavily but all Kelly did was show Nathan her middle finger before turning back to Seth.

The first thing the pair saw on entering the bar was Curtis pulling a pint behind it. Ever since they'd finished community service, he'd had a job working there. Nathan was delighted by that fact because he'd assumed it meant constant free drinks but, even though Curtis had a new-found tolerance for the Irishman, he still smacked his hand away as he tried to reach over the bar.

"I thought I said no free drinks." Curtis admonished.

Nathan blew his cheeks out at him and leant against the bar, Simon was about to open his mouth to order some drinks before the door opened and Alisha walked in, positively beaming.

"What are you so happy about?" Nathan asked as she neared.

"I just sold my power to that hot guy." She informed them, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her excitement.

"Oh, how much did you get for it?" Nathan asked conversationally.

"I didn't get anything," she answered, deadpan. "I didn't want anything. I just wanted it gone, and now it is."

And with that, she turned to the bar and, leaning over, placed a bare hand on Curtis' cheek and kissed him.

Simon and Nathan stared as shock blossomed across Curtis' features, eyebrows expressing his surprise as his eyes instinctively closed. Simon winced, instinctively waiting for Curtis to grasp her arm and say some horrific derogatory sexual advance; but nothing happened.

They merely shared their first kiss, and when Alisha pulled away, looking breathless, everything was normal.

"Holy shit." Nathan explained. "That ain't bad."

"That Seth bloke is wicked." Curtis said, holding back a grin as he clasped Alisha's hand.

"Are you going to sell yours?" Simon asked immediately, worry in his voice.

"Probably." Curtis admitted. "Get some actual cash together-" He sent Alisha a sideways glance. "-Thought we could travel or something, get a life together."

Nathan nodded as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "That's what we're going to do." He told them, glancing at Simon.

Simon smiled back at him, whatever worries still manifested within him when it came to their future, and indeed about everyone selling their powers, seeing Nathan happy like this lit him up in a way that could expel any worry he had.

He wound an arm around Nathan and pulled him into him and Curtis rolled his eyes as Alisha laughed.

"You two are well loved up." He observed.

"You gonna do it, then?" Alisha interjected, staring at Simon. "You gonna sell your invisibility?"

Simon was suddenly met with a sea of expectant faces, but worst of all was Nathan staring assuredly yet hopefully at him and he found he had no idea how to respond.

He couldn't help but feel internally torn. He'd promised Nathan, again, that he wouldn't go back, but this time he genuinely meant to stick to it, but he couldn't help feeling like selling his invisibility would be like some kind of finalisation, that it would all genuinely be over and they'd have to move on.

As he stared at Nathan's expectant face, it occurred to him that what he was moving on to was pretty damn incredible, and it was worth more to him than his invisibility.

Besides, there was some truth in the fact that their powers were an extension of themselves and Simon was no longer the person he used to be, so perhaps it was time for the invisibility to go and time for Simon to be seen.

He found himself smiling back at Nathan and nodding his head.

"Of course I will." He said.

…

Despite his self-reassurances, however, Simon still felt a pit form in his stomach as he walked into Seth's waiting room.

He supposed it was just scary letting go of something that was a part of you, which was his way of masking just how wrong it felt to give up the one thing that had saved his life and the life of his friends countless times.

Still, time to move on.

"Hey, Simon." Seth greeted, smiling as he invited Simon to sit down. Simon couldn't help smiling in return; he liked Seth.

"What can I do for you?" Seth asked, twiddling his fingers.

"I want to sell my power." He said quickly.

Seth raised an eyebrow. "You sure? You sound uncertain."

Simon strangely found himself smirking as he contemplated explaining to Seth exactly why he was uncertain, about the tumultuous life he'd lived since the storm and how it had been the making of him, but instead he merely nodded.

"I'm doing this for the right reasons." He assured him with a reverence he'd never possessed before.

"Okay, what's your power?"

"I can turn invisible." He explained, frowning when Seth merely nodded.

"I thought it was cool." He muttered under his breath.

Seth held his hand out across the table and Simon took it, the bright blue light erupted between their fingers and then it was over. Simon left the building, ten grand richer, but feeling as if he'd just lost something far more important.

He took a few deep breathes and leant against the wall, trying to pinpoint the odd feeling in his stomach, but what it really was was that there was no feeling.

He felt empty, he felt like he had a pit in his stomach as if recovering from a particularly nasty bout of irritable bowel syndrome.

He clutched at his stomach, suddenly weary that he was going to vomit. He closed his eyes but after a moment, realised he wouldn't be able to shake the feeling of dread that had settled where his power used to be. It took him all of three seconds to turn on his heel and bolt right back into the waiting room.

His hand stilled on the door handle to Seth's office as he heard noises floating out from within, he frowned, he hadn't noticed anyone else go through after him, but then figured he'd been a little self-absorbed when he'd left.

He quietly cracked the door open and listened as the distorted voices turned into words.

"...And what are you going to do with it?" Seth was saying.

There was a pause before a male voice answered: "I'm going to make a girl fall in love with me."

Simon stepped back immediately when he heard the rustling of a chair being pushed back and sat in one of the chairs, attempting to look casual, as the door opened and an unfamiliar, dark-haired man walked out, he didn't even spare Simon a glance before he left.

Simon slowly walked through the door to Seth's office, eyes still fixed on the mystery man he was somehow interested by.

"Simon?" Seth asked, sounding confused.

Simon turned to him. "What power did you give that guy?" He found himself asking.

"Oh, err...time travel."

"Time travel?" Simon asked, brow furrowing. "Oh, did you get it from Curtis?"

"No, it's a different strain." Seth explained absent-mindedly. "He can't time travel, he can just fling people back and forth."

"But how would that make someone fall in love with you?" He asked.

Seth merely shrugged. "Dunno, we all do weird things for the people we love, I guess. Anyway, can I help you, is something wrong?"

Simon stood still for a moment, mind surprisingly blank as he apprehended the man in front of him and considered the strange feeling within him, thoughts confused with love and time travel.

"You know...no, sorry," he said gently, turning away. "I'm fine."

He took a slow, solitary walk back to the flat. He opened the lift languidly and went to the closet, he pulled out the box and looked down at the outfit inside it for a moment before placing the ten grands' worth of notes snugly beside the sightless ski mask.

He knew it all had to die together, and was oddly content with leaving that part of himself in the box as well.

He was doing this all for the right reasons; he was doing it for the person he loved and really, that was the whole point.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey guys, I know I've not posted much recently but I had some really bad food poisoning over Christmas that I'm moodily yet thankfully recovering from. So here's a new chapter, hope y'all enjoy and I hope you all had an amazing Christmas :) xxx

"You know that feeling you get when you're full and hungry at the same time?" Simon attempted suddenly.

Nathan looked up at him, bewildered, before his gaze returned to the leaflet in his hand.

"What?" He asked.

Simon sighed and stood, crossing the space from his work out bench to the bed and flopping beside Nathan.

Nathan consciously scooted slightly closer to him but carried on with his reading. Simon allowed a hand to snake out and stroke along Nathan's bare back as he tried to make himself comfortable and throw off the strange feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

He glanced over Nathan's shoulder and read the first few lines of the letting agents' leaflet he had in his hands and smiled.

He wasn't completely sure what made him happier, what the future had in store for the pair of them or the fact that it made Nathan so happy. Nathan often spoke of the incredible transformation between the person Simon used to be and the person he was now, but the Nathan beneath his fingertips was certainly a far cry from the loud, obnoxious, scared little boy he once was. Simon knew that it was all his doing, as well, and couldn't help but glow quietly with pride.

"I'm going to miss this place." He voiced.

"Why? It's a shit hole." Nathan supplied.

"No, not the estate." Simon clarified, nudging Nathan in the side until the Irish man took the hint and turned onto his back so that they were facing each other. Nathan had a smug grin on his face. "This place." He looked briefly around the flat before he returned his attentions to his boyfriend. "So much has happened here, it seems strange to leave it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Nathan admitted, looking around himself for a moment before he wrapped his arms around Simon's neck and pulled the man closer to him until Simon had to manoeuvre himself so he didn't crush Nathan with a body weight he was still getting used to.

"But we've got to move forward, right? You said that. Remember?"

Simon nodded. "Yeah, I am generally right." He said jokingly, causing Nathan to laugh before he surged up and kissed him.

…

Kelly walked through the waiting room and pushed the door to Seth's office wide, already in conversation.

"Alright, let's go somewhere else tonight, the local is fuckin'..."

Kelly stopped suddenly as she took in the ransacked mess that was Seth's office. His desk was upturned and smashed, the chairs were scattered haphazardly and one of the lights had fallen and was consistently blinking and sparking dangerously.

"Shit!" Kelly exclaimed, catching sight of a crumpled form behind the ruined desk. She traversed the space carefully, aware of the broken glass littering the floor, before she knelt down beside Seth's unconscious form and rolled him over to her.

She gasped as she saw several deep gashes across his face as though he'd been attached by a werewolf, the tribal tattoo on his neck, black though it was, was almost completely obscured by the deep, mottled bruises covering his flesh.

"Holy...fuckin' fuck..." Kelly mumbled, unsure of what to do. She felt hot tears pricking at her eyes as she leant her head on his chest, reassured by the slow albeit obvious thumping of his heart.

"Okay, um..." She contemplated phoning for an ambulance before she remembered that, to them, that was a thing of the past. What was she going to tell them, that he ran an illegal power dealership?

She supposed she could only do what they'd always done, take him to the community centre.

"Oh no," she muttered to herself as she took her phone from her pocket. "I'm not doing this alone."

…

Nathan moaned loudly as Simon bit at his bottom lip, his hand simultaneously caressing the bulge in his night trousers.

Nathan allowed his hands to wind fully around Simon's neck and grind up into him, desperate for relief.

A loud buzzing broke Nathan from his desperation as his phone vibrated loudly beside him.

He groaned as he unlocked his arms from Simon's neck and reached for it.

"No, leave it..." Simon voiced breathlessly, attempting to kiss him again. Nathan was tempted to chuck his phone across the room and let Simon do what he wanted with him but when he saw Kelly's name flash up, he quickly opened the text.

"What?" He asked rhetorically, a little pre-occupied with Simon trailing wet kisses down his neck. "Guh...Simon...sto...stop."

"What is it?" Simon asked, pulling back and settling in Nathan's lap, causing the Irish man to gasp at the friction it caused him.

"I...err...Kelly says we need to get to the community centre. Apparently it's urgent." Simon's brow furrowed. "Why? I thought we were past that now...especially considering our powers are gone."

Nathan wished he could convince himself that he'd simply imagined the clip at the end of Simon's sentence but he didn't. He narrowed his eyes as Simon hopped off of the bed and went back to the work bench to retrieve his shirt.

Nathan knew that giving up his power was bothering Simon, but he wished he would just talk to him about it rather than doing the broody, future Simon routine.

Part of Nathan wanted to just let it go, to not mention it and wait for Simon to figure it out for himself but then the thought of Simon struggling with anything, well...it scared him.

So on their way to the community centre, hand in hand, Nathan brought it up.

"When you're feeling full and empty at the same time?" He prompted as they walked.

Simon stared at him for a moment before he nodded.

"I know." He admitted. "I know, I know you've done it, and Alisha, and probably Curtis by now and you guys don't feel weird...maybe I'm just as strange as I used to be or..."

"I feel weird." Nathan admitted suddenly.

"You do?" Simon asked.

Nathan nodded. "I do." He replied. "Feels like there's a bit of me missing."

"That's how I feel." Simon admitted, genuinely relieved that he wasn't alone but also confused as well. "Why didn't you tell me? That it was bothering you?"

Nathan smiled shallowly at him before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Because I made my choice." Was all he said.

…

Nathan and Simon walked into the presumably empty hall only to find Alisha and Curtis, wrapped around each other, lounged across some plastic chairs they'd pulled out.

"Kel called you two, an' all?" Curtis asked, sitting up as they walked in.

Simon nodded. "Yes. Do you know what the problem is?"

Curtis shook his head whilst he took Alisha's hand nervously in his own. Simon regarded the contact between them.

Nathan wandered across to the other side of the hall and out into the corridor.

"Kelly?" He called out.

He waited for a moment before a familiar voice called back; "In here!"

Nathan followed the sound to his left and opened one of the doors, leading into a cold storage room.

Kelly was inside with Seth, who looked like he'd just lost a fight with a werewolf. He had slowly healing cuts on his face and bruises everywhere else.

"Shit." Nathan said, approaching them. Seth looked embarrassed. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"Tell him." Kelly prompted, holding his hand with concern in her voice.

"Some bloke broke into the office." Seth admitted sheepishly. "...I've had this gang on me for a bit and thought it was one of them, you know, they don't have powers so I just tried to chuck him out but he demanded the powers."

"What?" Nathan asked.

"I said no." Seth explained, but didn't look particularly reassured. "Then he went apeshit, but...I wouldn't have done it but..." He hung his head. "...He threatened Kelly."

Kelly sent Nathan an apologetic look and Nathan's face fell. "You gave him the powers?"

Seth nodded slowly.

"What, all of them?"

"All the ones I had."

Nathan rubbed his eyes and sighed internally. One week, that was all he ever wanted, one week where metaphorical shit wasn't hitting the metaphorical fan.

…

With the help of Nathan, and a couple of shots of vodka, they were able to escort the sore Seth out into the hall of the community centre and sit him down on one of the plastic chairs. Kelly quickly explained the situation to the rest of the group before they all sunk into silence, contemplating what could possibly be their next move.

Seth groaned in pain and Alisha winced.

"You should go to the hospital." She said.

"And tell them what?" Seth asked. "That some prick beat the shit out of me and stole all the powers I'm illegally dealing."

Alisha fell silent.

"Well, you're not technically illegally dealing them." Nathan pointed out, earning him a few odd looks from around the room.

"What?" He asked, defensive. "I'm just saying there aren't exactly any laws governing this kind of shit."

"There should be." Curtis said, bitterness in his voice. "Some prick gets away with this," he vaguely gestured to Seth. "I wonder what he wanted with the powers anyway."

"Probably got some twisted complex." Nathan pointed out. "This isn't the first time some nutjob has come after us with a power." In his minds eye he could see Simon's psycho ex, plus he was fairly sure Curtis had once said they'd all been murdered in some alternate reality by a man with cheese.

"Yeah, he's right." Alisha agreed. "You're bound to get some freak who wants all the powers for themselves."

"But what if they come after us?" Simon asked in that troubled way of his.

"Why would they come after us?" Kelly asked quizzically.

"Not just us." Simon clarified. "Everyone. What if they want to be a supervillain?"

There were a few snickers around the room, everyone naturally dismissive of such an absurd idea. But a heavy silence remained in the air as everyone began to uneasily contemplate such a possibility.

"He said what he wanted, but I don't know if I'm right." Seth finally voiced.

"What?" Kelly prompted. "What did he want?"

Seth looked uneasy for a moment until he gaze shifted slowly to Simon.

"...Simon."

Simon frowned. "He said he wanted me?" He asked.

Seth shrugged but it looked like it hurt him to do it. "I don't know. He just said that he wanted Simon, but...you know...he could have been talking about any Simon."

_What are the odds of that?_ Simon thought to himself as he met Nathan's concerned gaze across the room. The reality was that there were a number of reasons someone would want to come after him. It was a cert that his future self had had enemies and all it would take was one look of Simon for them to get the pair confused, or even just Simon training by himself could have attracted any kind of unwanted attention.

Whatever the reason, the reality was that, even though Simon had decided in his heart to remain in the present, both his past and his future could still put his friends in danger, it could put Nathan in danger despite the fact that he was the one person he'd died to protect.

Simon wasn't the person he used to be, and the idea of facing off an adversary wasn't as terrifying as it used to be but now he was powerless, and he was vulnerable, and his enemy was stronger than ever.

"We have to kill him." Nathan said immediately and without consideration, the mere thought of Simon in danger driving him to anything.

Simon, however, shook his head.

"Oh, come on, this isn't the time to be noble." Nathan said, irritation in his voice.

"I'm not being noble." Simon said. "But we can't kill him; he has your immortality."

Simon could see the light dying in Nathan's eyes. "Your invisibility, too." He said, voice devoid of emotion.

"Wait a minute," Kelly voiced suddenly. "If Seth can give this dick powers then Seth can take 'em away again, right? All we have to do is get close enough."

Seth nodded. "Yeah, easy enough, but how do we get close enough?"

"We use you as bait." Curtis said, looking at Simon.

"What? No." Nathan said.

Simon nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea."

"No it's not." Said Nathan

Simon and Nathan locked eyes from across the room.

Kelly sighed. "Look, this ain't the time for you two to get all romantic." She said, irate. "This is just some more power bullshit we need to sort out, all right?"

Nathan swallowed subtly and looked down, finding his eyes drifting to his own stomach as if that was where his immortality had lived inside of him.

He'd honestly felt a little uneasy ever since he'd gotten rid of it, he supposed it was only natural to feel vulnerable after giving up something that meant no harm could ever come to you. But he'd never regretted it, because he was doing it for his future, and taking a chance on love. He'd honestly forgotten, with all the shit with Simon and his future self, that there were people out to get them, and giving up their powers made them...well, powerless.

Simon was going to use himself as bait to protect them all and he had no way to defend himself.

Nathan's hands settled over his stomach as he considered, for the first time, that Simon might have been right. Giving up their powers might have been a mistake.

…

All set on their unfortunate, albeit only, plan; they all exited the main hall of the community centre. Kelly, Alisha and Curtis remained a little behind in order to help the still-battered Seth get his footing.

Simon and Nathan, however, made their way to the far end of the corridor.

"I hope this works." Nathan voiced lightly.

Simon didn't reply.

"You know, because Seth is pretty battered...he might not even be able to get close enough."

Still, Simon said nothing.

"This could go really wrong."

"Yes." Simon finally conceded. "But it's my problem. We both know that this is about him." He said, now that they were out of earshot of the others.

Nathan sighed as they came to a halt at the far end of the corridor, just before the main door.

"I know." Nathan said. "But he's not here to deal with it. We are. I just...I'm worried. You could get really hurt."

Simon turned to him and took Nathan's hands in his own and smiled reassuringly at him.

"I'm not that scared little boy any more." He told him gently, voice full of unmistakeable self-assurance and confidence.

Nathan had no choice but to concede. "I know." He finally said. "I know you're not. I do trust you."

"Good." Simon smiled.

Nathan returned the smile. "You know, it's twisted and everything but...I am really proud of you, you know."

Simon blinked, eyes suddenly so full of unexplainable, innocent joy that it genuinely knocked Nathan back for a moment.

"Thanks." Was all Simon said in return.

Nathan pulled Simon to him and their lips locked. Silent. Passionate. Desperate. Then it was over and Simon had left through the door of the community centre and Nathan was stood all alone.

…

Simon had never played bait for anything in his life. Mainly because he'd never really been anything anyone had remotely wanted before.

But with the life his future self had led, it was almost a certainty that he had left behind some enemies. Simon was actually annoyed with himself for not thinking of it before.

He walked into an open space, surrounded by blocks of flats. He looked down to grey slabs of the concrete ground and contemplated his next move. He knew everyone was inside the community centre, poised with Seth to steal this guy's powers, as was the nature of their hastily-put-together plan. Simon was also consciously aware of all the training he'd been doing lately. But despite this knowledge, he still found himself feeling vaguely vulnerable. Exposed.

Scared.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Along with not owning Misfits, I also don't own The Cornetto Trilogy (and for anyone who doesn't get the reference in this chapter, you need to watch them because it'll be the best thing you'll ever do)
> 
> A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, it's taken me a long time to figure out where I want to go with this chapter plus I've been ridiculously blocked for some reason lately but I'm feeling a bit better now so enjoy xxx

Simon looked around the empty estate, swallowing away the stinging heartburn manifesting itself with his worry. He supposed the one comfort he could take was that at least, if anything did happen, no one else would get hurt.

_Yeah, just you._ His brain decided to chip in unhelpfully.

He was aware that he wasn't as worried as he probably should be but he put that down to his current lifestyle, and the fact that he'd had more than a few tussles with bad'uns from around the estate. He couldn't help grinning to himself as he fondly remembered one time where a mugger had stamped on his hand and torn the skin and Nathan had come back to the flat to find blood all over the floor and Simon laughing hysterically with adrenaline at his bandaged, bloody appendage. Nathan hadn't spoken to him all weekend.

A figure visualised in front of him and, attributing it to being off-guard, Simon jumped back in shock. Before his brain fully processed what was happening, he had a moment of actuality as he realised that that must have been what it looked like to other people when he visualised in front of them, he found it odd that he'd never actually seen his own power work. Like seeing the back of your head or your bones in an x-ray.

It suddenly clicked that he was, of coursing, viewing his invisibility and that the person now fully actualised in front of him was Seth's attacker, not to mention his potential attacker, as well.

"Simon," said an all too familiar voice.

It took Simon a moment to fully recognise the woman stood in front of him, but that was because she looked so different from the last time they'd met. Her hair was shorter, and more well-kept. She looked slightly tanned, face fuller and glowing with health. She was unmistakably beautiful.

"Lucy." Simon breathed out in shock, he jumped back from pure instinct alone, mind suddenly full of the image of Lucy slashing a kitchen knife across Nathan's throat and thick, red blood spraying out onto the white corridor. He tried to blink the haunting image from his mind.

He cast a weary glance to Lucy, she hadn't moved. "Hello, Simon." Was all she said.

"What are you doing here?" He asked shakily.

She smiled slightly and tilted her head to the side, as if studying him. She seemed so calm that Simon found it difficult to be afraid.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She said.

The doors to the community centre were flung wide and suddenly five bodies were tearing out, screaming a battle cry. Simon's eyes widened as he apprehended them. He watched as they all became aware of the relatively calm situation and stopped running, then recognised the girl stood staring quizzically at them and took a step back. Their movements looked choreographed.

If it weren't for the tense situation, it would have actually been rather comical.

"What the fuck..." Kelly began. "Is she doing here?"

"Simon," came Nathan's voice as he strode forward. "Get away..."

"Wait." Simon said authoritatively, holding a hand up to halt Nathan. The Irishman stopped instinctively in his tracks and stiffened as he and Simon made eye contact for the longest moment. Simon was trying to communicate that he was okay, that he had this and although Nathan understood the steely resolve in his boyfriend's eyes, from both his current self and his future incarnation, he still wavered on the spot, as if he had to forcefully still himself and let Simon look after himself.

It was in that moment that Nathan truly appreciated Simon's worry over them losing their powers, and losing their ability to protect themselves. The moment Nathan had seen Lucy stood in front of Simon, the image of the last time she'd murdered him clear in his mind, Nathan had stridden forward with the intention of barricading Simon's body with his own. Because no one could touch Simon if Nathan protected him. Nathan was indestructible which meant that Simon was indestructible, too.

But, he wasn't. Not anymore.

Nathan had gotten rid of his immortality for himself, to give himself a chance at a normal life, it had never occurred to him that, regardless of himself, he couldn't protect Simon any more.

Nathan was torn from his thought-process by an inhuman, agonising scream. Simon jumped back in shock as Lucy's bronzed skin began to ripple over her skeletal structure like it was melting until her bones elongated and her skin stretched and changed until she was no longer stood in front of them, instead, a brown haired man stood in her place.

"That's him." Seth said, voice low and guarded. "That's the guy who took the powers."

"It was her." Kelly said. "She can shape shift; she's done it before. She pretended to be me and she killed Nathan."

Simon hesitated as she turned back into her normal self and fixed him with an innocent look. "I told you, I'm not going to hurt anyone."

"But you hurt Seth." Simon pointed out wearily, he suddenly wanted to take a few paces back so he was surrounded by his friends, people he knew would protect him both physically and morally.

"Just to get what I want." Lucy clarified, as if that somehow made it all right. "And now I want you, we belong together. I told you I would come back for you."

Nathan stepped forward and was by Simon's side in a second. "You're not gonna touch him." He said, voice bitter.

If Simon were being brutally honest with himself, he was kind of pleased with Nathan being territorial.

However, Simon's pleasure was only momentary as Lucy snarled, flinging her small hand forward and then some form of telekinetic force was blasting through the air and forcing Nathan off of his feet. Simon called out in shock as Nathan collided with the injured Seth stood behind him and they both went down in a heap of gangly limbs.

Simon didn't even bother to turn back to Lucy, instead, he bolted straight to Nathan, conscious that whatever happened to him, there was no longer an immortality to protect him anymore. Lucy had stolen it.

But before he could reach him, Lucy sent out the same telekinetic force and forced Simon back, planting his feet onto the ground and stilling his limps. He could see Nathan and Seth on the floor in front of him, looking up, concerned at him, but he couldn't move.

He moved his eyes slightly, the only part of his body with any motion, and caught Lucy walking towards them, her hand held out in front of her as she held him there, her arm shaking under the effort.

"I don't know how many times I can tell you he's not good enough for you, Simon." She said gently, sounding almost saddened. "I'm sorry you can't see that. But in time, you will, I promise. We just need to get this man out of your life, so that he can stop clouding your judgement the way he is now, and then you'll know. You'll know you belong with me; just like I know it. It's going to be all right. Don't worry." She said.

Simon wasn't particularly worried about her speech despite the fact that she was directly threatening Nathan and there was nothing he could do about it. Because he didn't need to do anything about it, Lucy had been far too busy with her monologue to notice Kelly coming up behind her with a fire extinguisher held aloft in her hands.

The fire extinguisher came down on her head with a sickly crack and Lucy screamed like nothing Simon had ever heard before. The force holding him down suddenly dissipated and his limbs relaxed, muscles strained, and he barely had a chance to let out the breath he'd been forced to hold before Nathan's arms were around him and holding him so tight he didn't think he'd have been able to breathe anyway.

In the space of about a second, Lucy began to shake violently in rage and then the space she had occupied was empty and Kelly was forced off of her feet, falling heavily to the ground.

Nathan released Simon and the soon-to-be-superhero scaled a small brick wall, flipping on the palm of his hands and sending out a kick that shattered one of the windows in the front of the community centre. He twisted and tugged one of the shards of glass from the mess of the window, barely even wincing as it sliced through his palm.

He looked around desperately for the invisible figure of his antagonist but found nothing. He did the only thing he could think of in the short space of time. He pressed the shard of glass to his own throat harshly, feeling the skin of his neck tearing.

"Holy shit, Simon, what the fuck?" Nathan cried out, while similar cries of distress came from Alisha and Curtis, all stood around in shock, desperately trying to protect themselves from the deadly and invisible force of Lucy.

"If you don't stop hurting my friends," Simon called out, "I'll slit my own throat. You know I'll do it, I'm just as crazy as you!"

Lucy visualised, not three feet from Simon, still balanced on the wall, and stared steely up at him. Everything was eerily quiet.

"You won't do it." She said.

Simon hesitated for a moment before he decided to call her bluff and dug the shard further into his neck, wincing at the pain and the feel of blood sliding over his bobbing Adam's apple.

"No!" Cried Lucy.

"No!" Cried Nathan.

Nathan ran for him but Lucy got there first, teleporting directly in front of him, levitating a few feet on the ground so she was level with his position on the wall. Simon didn't have time to marvel or fear her impressive set of powers, instead, he retracted his hand from his throat and mashed the shard of glass right into her throat, creating a deep cut and he was sprayed with her blood when she screamed.

Then she teleported away, the screaming cutting out immediately and leaving nothing but an odd silence in the air. Everyone was still.

Simon's legs gave out under him and he collapsed from the wall onto the ground, taking impact on his knees. The wall was small enough that the shock absorption didn't shatter anything, it just bruised. But Simon didn't care, he was too busy staring down at the blood on his hands, a mixture of his and of hers.

Before he could freak out completely, Nathan was by his side and collapsed next to him, gathering his shaking form up into his arms.

"What just happened?" Simon asked. "What the hell did I do?"

"You saved me, that's what you did." Nathan said resolutely, although there was still an unmistakable tremor in his voice.

"I can't believe…" Simon tried again, but he couldn't get the words out.

"Doesn't matter." Nathan said. "Doesn't matter. It's okay, I promise."

Simon could do nothing but cling to him as he felt the pain in his neck and his hand begin to sting and the adrenalin melted away to nothing.

The rest of them just stood around, shocked, staring at them.

…

After pressing a large bandage to his neck, fresh from the community centre first aid kit, Simon wrapped a large bandage around his injured hand, stinging when the gauze came into contact with his wound. It was only then that he turned, seeing Nathan, Kelly, Alisha, Curtis and Seth all perched in various positions in the corridor they had retreated to.

After a long, heavy silence; Alisha finally spoke.

"So is she dead?" She asked flatly.

"I doubt it." Simon answered. "One of the powers she took from Seth was Nathan's immortality. She probably can't be killed."

"How long did it take you to come back to life?" Curtis asked, looking at Nathan.

Nathan merely shrugged. "I don't know. Like, a couple hours, maybe? I don't know how long we've got but I doubt it's very long."

"We've got to kill her somehow." Alisha said.

"Well, we can't, can we?" Kelly reminded her, mind obviously going back to Simon's unsuccessful attempt. It was only then that her forehead creased and she looked up at him from where she was perched against the wall.

"I never knew you had that in you." She said.

"She was going to kill you." Simon explained simply. "I didn't have much of a choice."

She smiled slightly up at him. "Thanks."

"Look, the original plan is totally fucking dumb," Nathan reminded them all in that blunt way of his, pushing himself from the floor into a standing position, "but it's still the best plan we've got. We need to get Seth close enough to her that he can take her powers away. That way-we won't have to kill her, we won't have to kill anyone." His hands fell flatly to his side and his voice suddenly lost some of its enthusiasm. "The whole point of us getting rid of our powers was to start a new life. Not get stuck in the old one again."

"But she's so strong, we'll never get close." Kelly said. "It don't help that she's a fucking psychopath."

Curtis shook his head suddenly. "Of all the people to get a psychopath to fall in love with them, it had to be you, didn't it?" He pointed at Simon. "It must be so twisted."

Alisha frowned. "You're right." She said, turning to Simon. "She does love you. Can't you, like…talk her out of it somehow?"

"I'm not sure how using affection towards her will be able to convince her not to pursue a relationship with me." He told her honestly. "Besides, she's too powerful now. Kelly's right. She'll kill anyone who stands in her way. She was never stable in the first place."

Curtis' eyes widened and they all stared at him.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"What about before she was powerful?" He said.

"What?" Nathan repeated.

"I…" Curtis gestured to Seth. "I never got rid of my power, didn't get the chance."

"So, what?" Kelly asked. "Time travel back to when she was normal and try and talk her 'round before she can smash our heads in with her mind?"

Simon shook his head. "But how are you supposed to talk her 'round?" Simon asked Curtis. "You don't know her, it'll never work."

Curtis shook his head and gestured to Seth again. "Nah, you can do it." He told Simon. "Seth can give my time travel power to you."

Nathan visibly stiffened and all eyes were on him, but Simon's were the only one's he noticed. The pair locked eyes and knew precisely what the other was thinking. Simon had never seen so much pleading in Nathan's eyes until this moment but Simon had promised himself he would protect Nathan no matter the cost, and Nathan was the one that Lucy wanted to hurt, it was Simon's job to do anything he could to save him.

"Okay." He said, turning to Seth and holding out his hand. Nathan's eyes dropped to the floor and Simon avoided looking at him at all costs, already feeling a pit developing in his stomach.

Kelly helped the still unstable Seth to his feet and he and Curtis clasped hands, and the same bright light emitted from between their fingers. Then Seth held his own hand out to Simon's outstretched one, and Simon hesitated for only a moment until he took Seth's hand in his own.

Nathan was silent as the light flashed between them and Simon blinked as he felt a brand new power settle in the empty space in his stomach where his invisibility used to be.

It felt good to have a power, more normal, but it still felt wrong. Like he was nauseated. He supposed that was because it wasn't his.

_This is all in your head._ He had to keep reminding himself.

"So, how does it work?" Simon asked, turning to Curtis.

"You just got to concentrate on something you really wanna change," Curtis explained, "then it's like, the power takes you back to where you need to go."

Simon thought for a moment before he nodded. "So, I want to change what's happening now, meet Lucy beforehand, okay…"

Kelly's eyes switched between the preoccupied Simon and the lingering Nathan, his eyes fixed on Simon's like he was desperate to talk to him but had no idea what to say.

Kelly didn't need her power to know what Nathan was thinking, that Simon could get hurt, really hurt. After watching what had happened to him losing that first boyfriend of his, she didn't think she could stand to watch him lose another one.

"Guys…" She said, turning to Curtis and Alisha. "Wanna help me take Seth into the backroom? He looks like he needs some painkillers or something."

"I'm fine." Seth said, embarrassment in his voice.

"No, come on, I wanna look after you." Seth and Kelly shared a tender look that didn't go unnoticed by anyone else in the room and Seth allowed himself to be escorted out of the corridor by Kelly, Alisha and Curtis following and leaving Nathan and Simon on their own.

Nathan was grateful for Kelly's support, and it really enforced how very much she was the best friend he'd ever had, because he had wanted a moment alone with Simon. But now he had it, he had no idea what to say.

He was terrified.

Nathan approached Simon, not looking at his face, instead focusing on the bandage on his hand.

"How's your hand?" He asked.

"Still a bit stiff." Simon answered and Nathan laughed, he couldn't help it.

"I guess at least you're not laughing hysterically about it like last time." He admitted, mind cast back to when he'd walked in on Simon gleefully showing him his injured hand when he'd been trodden on by a mugger. "…And scaring the royal shit out of me."

"Shut up, I was in shock, dickhead." Simon shoved him playfully, then the pair were laughing and looking at each other and it was like nothing was wrong. But, of course, it was.

Nathan sobered quickly and his eyes hit the floor as the weight of the situation settled on him.

"I know that you're worried." Came Simon's voice, and Nathan glanced back up to see his boyfriend staring intently at him.

"Just…you and time travel aren't exactly a good mix." He tried a smile that didn't work.

Simon stepped forward, closing the gap between them and then his hand was on Nathan's cheek, warm and comforting as it always had been. "I'm going to come back." Simon told him. "I promise."

The uncertainty was still present in Nathan's eyes and Simon stroked his cheek gently.

"Have I ever broken a promise to you?" He asked, eyes firm yet gentle at the same time. The face of someone strong and confident, not yet beaten down by the downfalls that come with such traits.

"No." Nathan admitted honestly. "No, you've never broken a promise to me. Past. Present…or Future."

Simon smiled slightly as he leant in and pressed a soft kiss to Nathan's lips. He had never broken a promise to him, and never intended to, either. He promised Nathan that he would save him. And that was exactly what he wanted the most right now, he wanted to save Nathan from Lucy's threat, no matter what it took.

It suddenly felt like the world was contracting around him and then Nathan was gone and Simon's arms were empty. Simon seemed to come back to himself in a slamming halt that knocked all the air from his lungs.

He looked desperately around himself, still stood in the same corridor except the light was different, like it was a different time of day. And Nathan was no longer clutching onto him. Instead, he noticed a wide stain of blood on the floor in stark contrast to the white and recoiled, turning to see Nathan, Alisha and Curtis all crowded around the unconscious form of Kelly, Nathan knelt by her and cradling her into him, one hand around his blood stained neck.

"We should take her to the hospital…" Alisha was muttering.

And then Simon remembered exactly where he was.

This was moments after Lucy had slashed Nathan's neck and she'd taken off, the moment they'd lost contact with her before she stole all the powers for herself. Curtis had been right, he'd thought about exactly where he'd wanted to be and what he'd wanted to do and the power had just taken him, even though he didn't know it himself.

But now, now he knew exactly what to do.

"She couldn't have gotten far." He said.

"Suppose not." Curtis supplemented across the corridor.

"Wait here," he said, eyes wide, "I'll only be a moment."

Nathan looked a little stricken at Simon's sudden exit but remained silent as Simon jogged around the corridor in the direction Lucy had run off in before.

_It's all for you._ Simon told himself. _It always has been._ Hoping that somehow Nathan could hear him.

"What's up with him?" Curtis asked Nathan, still cradling the unconscious Kelly in his arms like a baby.

"He doesn't like it when I die." Nathan said a little too blankly to be blasé. "He probably just needs a moment."

Simon found himself outside the community centre, looking uselessly at the empty estate.

"Lucy!" He called out, sprinting in one direction, desperate to catch her. "Lucy!"

It took a few minutes of searching, with Simon losing hope by the second as it occurred to him that she could take any form she wanted, but eventually he found her small frame huddled in a dank alleyway, legs hugged to her chest.

He was apprehensive but at the same time, a little sympathetic. She was just a scared kid at the end of the day, a kid that needed help.

"Lucy…" He said, approaching her gently.

She startled him by looking straight at him, sickly pale skin and dark hair, unlike her new, refreshed form in the future.

"Stay away from me," she said, shifting herself along the wall and away from him, "d…don't call the police, I'm warning you…"

"No one is gonna call the police." He told her earnestly. "I promise you. Everyone is okay."

She continued to stare at him but didn't speak, flinching ever so slightly as he took a deep breath and slid down the wall beside her, legs falling open.

Simon took a moment to deliberate what he was going to say, how he was going to approach a very delicate topic such as this, and how very much out of his capacity this was. But he knew that the girl sitting next to him would have been him if he hadn't responded to the help he'd received, if he hadn't of met Nathan or learned of his future self.

She was lonely, being genuinely lonely did things to you after a while. And that was one thing he could definitely relate to.

"Look," he began finally. "When I was in that hospital, I thought that was it for me. That I'd never know happiness…or love." He turned to her and attempted a shallow smile in her direction. "But I found it, for myself. You will too, I know you will. But…not with me. Purely for the fact that you deserve someone who can give you all the love in the world, and he, or she, is out there. I promise. I don't break my promises."

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them hastily away. "I hate that hospital." She choked out finally.

"I know you do." Simon told her honestly. "But you need to stay strong, and heal, and then you'll never have to look back. I know you can, you're the most resilient person I know. And…when you get out, you can come visit me, yeah? As friends, because I'd like that."

The tears continued to flow but she nodded regardless, leaning her head on his neck for comfort. He let her.

"I will try; I promise…thank you for being so understanding."

"It's what I'm here for." Simon mumbled.

She suddenly recoiled in shock and stared at him, eyes wide.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"That boy," she said, "I saw him bleed, is he okay?"

"Oh." Simon said, deflating. "Nathan…he's gonna be just fine. Don't worry about him, just worry about you. Everything is fine."

"I'm sorry." She said after a moment, and despite how difficult it had been for Simon to say those things to her, he found himself believing her. "I don't want to be a bad person." She said.

"You don't have to be."

She turned to him then, and smiled. Warm and genuine and Simon couldn't help but smile back. Then, he felt it, in his gut, like his work was done and the timeline was realigning itself.

Before he could take a breath he felt that same constriction on his chest and watched in shock and awe as the universe began to reset itself before his very eyes and then he was slamming back to his present, the weight of Nathan appeared suddenly in his arms and the warmth of the Irishman's lips against his own startled him and he jumped back.

Nathan's light eyes opened and stared at him. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"What…what…what…?" Simon attempted, trying to breathe some oxygen back into his lungs. "What's happening?"

"What do you mean 'what's happening'?" Nathan asked, looking concerned. "You were gonna time travel back and stop Lucy from trying to kill me."

"But…" Simon shook his head. "I just did that, I just travelled back."

"What? While we kissed?"

Simon nodded. "Yeah, I just thought about what I wanted the most and it kind of took me there, I thought…" He looked around himself, brow furrowed. "Has anything changed?"

"I…I don't know." Nathan admitted sheepishly, as if embarrassed he couldn't give Simon the answer he wanted. "I don't think so."

Simon immediately exited the corridor, checking rooms until he happened upon Kelly, Alisha and Curtis. Kelly pressing a cold compress to Seth's bruised cheek.

"You're still hurt." He said.

Seth hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say. Simon didn't know how to explain himself to the sea of confused faces staring at him, particularly as he didn't precisely know what was going on himself. He heard the easily identifiable footsteps of Nathan coming up behind him and he somehow found his voice.

"I went back in time," he started. "I found Lucy, just like we said. I…I talked her into going back into the hospital, she wasn't going to hurt anyone."

"But…then I don't understand." Alisha said. "If you stopped it, then why did nothing change?"

Nathan's hand was on his shoulder and squeezing him reassuringly. "A lot can change in a short space of time." Nathan told them all, but Simon felt like he was addressing him directly despite the fact he couldn't even see his face. "And the tiniest thing can turn the world on its head for you. One nice conversation won't change her outlook forever, any one, small, unforeseeable event can turn you right back onto a path you thought you'd given up. Anything could have happened that changed her mind right back, it's not your fault, Simon."

Simon's shoulders sagged dejectedly. "But…then what can we do? We're useless now."

Silence hovered in the air.

"How long did you say it took for you to heal?" Curtis asked slowly.

"Couple of hours." Nathan supplied, wincing as he realised that was pretty much exactly how much time had passed, and now they were sitting ducks with no line of defence.

The door of the community centre store room was flung off of its hinges with an almighty blast and then Lucy stormed in, levitating off of the ground just so, eyes alight with power and dried blood on her neck.

"You! This is your fault!" She screamed before charging forward and seizing Nathan by the neck, lifting him clean off of the ground, his restricted windpipe making him gag.

Everyone else gasped but could do nothing.

Weirdly, Simon found himself not panicking erratically as he had expected, but instead his mind seemed to slow down.

Now that everyone had forfeited their powers and Simon had spent the last few months training in order to become his future self, he was the most capable person in the room.

He tried to think back to him, every time the guy in the mask had turned up and saved them, he'd been so sure of himself, like he knew everything that was going to happen ahead of time. But Simon had no such luxury, he had no idea what was going to happen.

So he had to take a chance.

"Lucy!" He shouted out suddenly, reaching his hand out to her.

She didn't relinquish her hold on Nathan but she turned her head and stared at him, Simon forced himself to keep his eyes on her. "Stop!" He continued. "Please, we talked about this. Remember? You need help. You promised me that you would try!"

"And you promised me I would find happiness!" She screeched back, fingers tightening around Nathan's neck and making his skin turn a dangerous shade of blue as he struggled. "And love. And all I found was misery and despair!"

"You need to give it time," Simon tried. "It will happen. Please. Don't take my life from me just because you haven't found your own. It doesn't work that way."

"It does now." Was all she said as she turned back to Nathan.

"You told me you didn't want to be a bad person!"

Lucy hesitated. "I…I'm not, I'm just doing…"

"Lucy, look at yourself, look at him. Look at what you're doing, it's not right. It's _bad."_

She looked at Nathan, saw his deoxygenated skin and bulging eyes and gasped, as if she had suddenly come back to herself from a dreamlike state. She retracted her fingers from his throat and he fell to the ground in a barely conscious, boneless heap. He was immediately pulled to safety by Alisha as Lucy slowly descended, her feet touching the ground.

Simon went to run to Nathan but was halted by Seth launching himself forwards and grasping Lucy's unsuspecting hand in his own. She screamed in shock as the blinding light, brighter than it had ever been, shone in the middle of the room, creating an endless chasm of light that seemed to go on forever until Seth let go, lost his footing slightly but righted himself. Lucy, sufficiently weakened, collapsed to the ground.

It took a long while for the swirling mass of light in Seth's hand to fully dissipate, but it seemed to rejuvenate him slightly, and he suddenly seemed so much stronger than he had a few minutes before.

Lucy was still cowering on the floor and everyone was at a standstill, unsure of their next move. That was until Kelly walked forwards a few paces and punched Lucy across the face, successfully knocking her out. She slumped back onto the floor with blood dripping down her face.

"Kelly." Simon berated.

"She tried to kill me." Kelly pointed out and Simon fell silent, not having much to say in the line of defence.

…

Nathan was sat in the corner of the room, taking a few moments for himself to calm down and get some oxygen back into his body, so Kelly, Alisha and Curtis had volunteered to take the unconscious girl back to St. James psychiatric ward.

Simon had just finished giving them directions but as they turned to go, he called Curtis back.

"Yeah?" The former track-star asked.

"Um. Just…your power." Simon said. "I'd better give it back, before I forget."

"You know what?" Curtis said. "You keep it. That power causes way more harm than good."

Simon froze.

This. This was it. This was how it happened, how he went back. The time travel power in the palm of his hand, all he had to do was think and he was gone. And Nathan was saved.

He turned his head and glanced at Nathan, straight-backed against the wall, massaging his throat slightly while taking slow, steady breaths and Simon found himself smiling.

He didn't need to be a superhero to save Nathan, he just needed to be with him.

With that in mind, Simon walked to Seth, who was preparing to leave with the group, and extended his hand out.

"Take the time travel power." He said assertively. "I don't need it. I don't want it."

Seth held his hand out and after the customary flash of light, the power was gone from Simon.

"I'm not sure what to do with this." Seth admitted honestly.

"It's too dangerous." Curtis pointed out.

"We should destroy it." Simon said.

"How do we do that?" Kelly asked.

"It's pretty simple." Seth said, shrugging. "Just put it in a bug or something. Then squish it. Job done."

"Well, why don't you two go and do that…" Alisha said, sidling up to Kelly in a suggestive way as if she were far too happy to facilitate Kelly and Seth having some alone time. "And we'll take the crazy girl back to the hospital."

Curtis and Alisha soon left with the still-unconscious Lucy and Simon left Seth and Kelly chatting in the corridor and went back into the store room to see Nathan sat crossed legged on the floor, staring up at him.

"Hey." Nathan said.

Simon was on his knees in an instant and wrapped his arms around Nathan. Nathan laughed as he hugged him back but there was something desperate in his humour, something just a little too tight about his embrace.

When Simon pulled back, he sat opposite and just stared at him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Breathless." Nathan replied honestly. "But, you know, not dead so…winner."

The pair laughed slightly.

"I can't believe you just did that." Nathan said quietly.

"What?" Simon asked.

"You gave up the time travel power."

"I made you a promise."

Simon expected Nathan to look grateful or happy, but instead, he looked uneasy and Simon frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Nathan shrugged. "It's nothing, really…" He tried sounding nonchalant. "But…I don't know…there was a moment, earlier, outside. I went to protect you but I couldn't, because I'm not immortal anymore. Just I've been thinking, maybe there's some truth in what you were saying before…that giving up our powers might have been a mistake."

Simon reached out and put a hand on Nathan's knee, earning the man's attention.

"You told me that you gave up your immortality for a normal, human life with me."

"I did." Nathan said.

"A part of a normal, human life is danger. There's always going to be bad with the good, because without the bad, the good wouldn't be worth anything. But…at the same time, you can't spend your life expecting the bad, you just have to accept it's normal and just live your life day after day. You have to…"

"Live in the moment." Nathan finished off, something akin to a familiar flash of nostalgia in his blue eyes.

Simon merely nodded.

"I made my choice." Nathan said after a moment, rather bluntly, hand finding Simon's on his knee. "I'll take what I can get. What I want for us will never change. The future…it's now. And we control it, nobody else. I've had a fair share of bad in my life, I've lost things…lost parts of myself that I'll never get back but you…you're my good, Simon. And I want you around forever. I know how you feel about what the future might hold for us, but…"

"I made my choice as well." Simon interrupted gently. "I realised what I wanted. No matter what happens in the future, my choice will always, always be you."


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Misfits or any of the characters, they all belong to their respective owners. I also do not own anything else I reference throughout.
> 
> A/N: Just want to clarify that I don't think I've ever made up a single power in this whole fic, I think every single power every character has had has featured in the show at some point. I'm not really pointing this out for any particular reason, I just think it's neat.

Curtis and Alisha left the community centre with the still-unconscious Lucy, ready to take her back to the hospital and end this farcical charade. Nathan and Simon were together in the store room, huddled up with one another and discussing their mismatched future and what it might hold for them, and Kelly and Seth convened in the corridor. Seth, although still battered, appeared healthier and sturdier now that he was strengthened with the powers that had been forcefully stolen from him, and Kelly was trying her best not to blush as he smiled at her.

"So…I don't suppose you want to come and destroy the time travel power with me?" He asked, glancing at the floor, cheeks tinged the palest pink.

Kelly raised an eyebrow, remembering exactly what he had said destroying the power would entail. "You want me to come and kill a bug with you?" She asked sceptically.

He smiled crookedly at her. "I'll even let you step on it."

She tried to fight off her smile but couldn't quite manage it. "Yeah, alright." She said, stuffing her hands into her pockets and following him out of the community centre, leaving the building wholly unoccupied except for two young men sat opposite one another, hands clasped loosely together.

"I think I just heard Kelly and Seth leaving." Simon said, after hearing the main door slamming shut. "They said they were going to put the time travel power into a bug and then squish it." He couldn't help grinning.

"Effective, I guess." Nathan said. He was smiling as well but there was a distracted look in his blue eyes.

"What's up?" Simon asked, cocking his head to the side as he apprehended him.

"Nothing, I'm just a bit shocked, I guess. I mean; the time travel power is gone. It's really over." Nathan's voice quieted slightly as his eyes hit the ground. "He's gone." He said after a pause.

Simon knew precisely who he was talking about, mourning his future self to some degree. There wasn't so much sadness in his voice, but more of an innocent surprise. A blameless hint of regret. But Simon understood, he understood that this was going to be a turning point for Nathan and hoped, quite contentedly, that this would be the last time that his future self could cause Nathan any pain. Not just because Nathan would no longer miss him, but because Nathan could no longer feel like he was disappointing him by being in love with this version of himself.

"I'm not going to be a hero anymore." Simon pointed out, as if to voice his thought process.

Nathan glanced back up at him then and smiled, and it was genuine. "You'll always be my hero." He said, and he was grinning, but some part of Simon believed him.

Nathan then waggled his eyebrows at Simon as he inched himself closer to him on the floor. "And, you know…" He began. "…Heroes deserve rewards."

Nathan's hand was on his thigh and Simon raised an eyebrow. "What did I say about public sex?" He reminded his boyfriend, humour in his voice.

Nathan responded by rolling his eyes. "Oh, come on." He whined. "I've had one hell of a day. You can indulge me, just this once."

Simon smiled hugely, he couldn't help himself, and dipped his head forward, pressing his forehead against Nathan's and breathing in the scent that was so familiar to him he could detect Nathan without even looking at him.

"Okay." He breathed out. "Just this once."

…

"So, what are we looking for then?" Kelly asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground as they walked, the sun slowly setting around them and casting the estate in a burnt orange hue that almost made it look appealing.

"I dunno." Seth admitted. "Like a spider or something?"

"You can fuck off." Kelly said suddenly. "I ain't going near a spider."

Seth glanced across to her and smiled to himself. "Alright then, like a beetle, then?"

"Okay, beetle." She paused before looking up at him. "Have you ever destroyed a power before?"

He shook his head. "Nah. But I put a power in my iguana for safekeeping once, long story."

Kelly didn't ask. "You should think about doing it more often." She said instead.

"What, destroying powers?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kelly, however, nodded seriously. "Yeah, these things do way more bad than good. You're lucky your power doesn't really affect you that much. I could hear what people were thinking, mate, and it was shit. Total shit. There was this one guy who killed people and all he could do was control cheese."

"It's not the powers that are fucked, it's the people." Seth admitted honestly. "If you guys weren't trying to keep your heads down; you could have caused a lot of shit."

Kelly shrugged. "I just think we're better off without them. Including you."

"Me?" Seth asked. "You're worrying about me?"

Kelly blushed and looked away immediately and Seth smiled and shook his head. _Fuck it._ He thought.

"Kel, will you be my girlfriend?"

Kelly didn't look at him for a moment as she considered the offer. She didn't honestly know if she wanted anything serious at the moment. But then she thought about all of her friends and how happy they seemed to be, about how Curtis and Alisha could finally have a normal relationship with one another and how Nathan and Simon had somehow found something special in one another and were finally happy together, it seemed like the time for new beginnings and if everyone else had taken the plunge then…well, she supposed she could, too.

So, instead of answering Seth's question directly, instead she merely pushed herself up on her toes and pressed an innocent although lingering kiss to his lips. Seth didn't move, he just stood still and allowed himself to be kissed and when Kelly pulled away he was smiling.

The pair stood grinning at each other like teenagers for a moment before Kelly smacked him lightly on the arm. "Stop distracting me," she reprimanded good-naturedly. "We gotta get this done."

Seth merely nodded and the pair began walking again, in search of the infamous beetle, and Kelly found her hand slipping into his as they walked.

They found themselves at the park, definitely for the bug aspect and most definitely not for the romance of it, and it didn't take long for them to find a few beetles scuttling around on the ground.

"Hurry up." Kelly said, looking around herself to the almost completely set sun. "It's getting dark an' it's well dodgy around here."

Seth nodded mutely and knelt down carefully, aware of his suit trousers, and jabbed one of the beetles with his finger, watching as the blinding light of the time travel power left him and empowered the little creature that had absolutely no knowledge of the gift it now possessed.

Kelly watched him as he knelt, aware of a group of lads squandering on one of the benches in the park. The bright light in the dark caught their attentions and suddenly a group of around five hooded boys were staring right at them.

Kelly shook her head. "Alright, let's get out of here." She said, nudging Seth. The last thing they needed right now was any trouble.

Seth seemed to detect the unease in her voice and looked up at her, forehead creased. His worried expression evened out as he saw the group of people staring at them and he was on his feet in a second.

"Hey!" One of the men called out, making an immediate beeline for them.

"Shit." Seth said under his breath, fear in his eyes as the rest of the gang fell in line behind their ringleader and started towards them.

"Shit!" Kelly repeated, louder, grabbing Seth by the wrist and dragging him a few paces back. That seemed to jolt Seth back to reality and then his hand was curling painfully around Kelly's and they were running in the other direction, across the grass and out of the park.

They approached a level-car park on the edge of the estate and Seth shocked Kelly by pulling her behind one of the large concrete pillars. Kelly's back hit the concrete as she tried to catch her breath, Seth crouched down and put his finger to his lips.

The pair remained there, as silent as they could, and Kelly winced as she heard the approaching footsteps of the group of men.

"They went round there!" One of them was saying with a London accent.

"Where?" Another voice, much lower, asked.

"Over there...Come on!"

"I'm gonna gut that prick!" One of them said angrily, their footsteps were heard once more and seemed to be retreating, going in the other direction, but Kelly didn't feel relieved.

"We need to get out of here, quickly." Seth supplied, attempting to stand but Kelly dragged him back down again. "What?"

"What the fuck is going on?" She asked, voice low but full of irritation and unmistakable fear.

Seth looked reluctant to speak. "Remember I told you I had a gang on me?" He asked.

"Yeah, what for?"

"I used to be a dealer." Seth replied. "A normal dealer, a drug dealer. Was meant to get some coke for the ringleader of that gang, but then all the power bullshit happened and I forgot all about it."

Kelly's brow furrowed. "So they're on you because you didn't score them anything?"

Seth looked sheepish as he shook his head. "No. It's because I…I kept the grand they gave me."

Kelly clenched her jaw. "You dick!"

"I didn't mean to!" Seth retorted. "I tried to give them the cash back but you know what gangs are like, vendetta bullshit, I was trying to lay low but then all the shit with the crazy girl happened and…"

"Look, we don't have time for this!" Kelly sighed, frustrated, peaking her head out from behind the concrete pillar and seeing that the coast was, for the moment, clear.

"We've gotta get out of here." She said, pulling at Seth's wrist as he followed her. The pair began to jog and Kelly sincerely hoped that Nathan and Simon were still at the community centre.

…

"I can't believe you're making me do this." Simon muttered breathlessly, but he couldn't bring himself to be genuinely annoyed.

"You love it." Nathan replied coyly, smiling brilliantly. He was stretched out beneath Simon, all of their clothes discarded disinterestedly across the store room, skin against skin, perfectly comfortable and content.

Nathan would have been lying if he had said he wasn't feeling a real sense of breathless exultation, and not just because of the form of Simon hovering above him, gloriously naked and smiling, pressing soft kisses along the dip in his throat while rubbing soft circles on Nathan's collarbone that made him want to sigh and sob in equal measure.

No – it was the dawning realisation that this was all over, that everything had come to a natural stop, and Nathan dared to believe that he didn't have to be afraid anymore, that the nightmare of the storm and the threatening lifestyle and the pain and the heartache was over.

Nathan, stood alone in the estate and confusedly watching the black blotch that was the guy in the mask running across the skyline and wondering what the fuck his deal was, would never have imagined himself here and now, hands wrapping themselves around Simon Bellamy's waist and squeezing gently, smiling in both contentment and exhilaration because he just couldn't contain the amount of love he felt for the man above him, no longer immortal yet never having felt more alive.

Nathan would also have been lying if he'd said that he didn't lead a life of ambivalence and contradictions.

Simon stilled above him and fixed him with a soft albeit confused expression.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently.

Nathan shook his head, taking one hand from Simon's waist and sweeping it up the plane of his back, fingers curling around his neck and urging him down, bringing their mouths together.

"Nothing." Nathan breathed into his mouth. "I just love you, that's all."

"That's all." Simon scoffed good-naturedly, kissing him again.

"Simon…" Nathan prompted, Simon didn't reply and merely stared at him expectedly.

Nathan bit his lip before he spoke, unsure how to word his stray thought. "If future you had never travelled back, do you suppose we would have ever been together?"

Nathan was glad Simon didn't merely shrug it off and say _'of course we would,'_ instead, he planted his hands on either side of Nathan's head to steady himself and contemplated the question.

"I don't know." He admitted honestly. "I mean, who knows what would have happened? There's also the fact that, without my future-self, there's a fair chance that none of us would even be alive."

"That's true." Nathan admitted, looking suddenly concerned.

Simon, however, merely grinned as he lowered himself down until his abdomen was pressed against Nathan's, he kept one hand pressed firmly to the floor to support his weight so he wouldn't crush the man beneath him, but with his other hand, he ran his fingers through Nathan's ebony locks as he loved to do.

"You wanna know what I think?" He asked.

Nathan nodded.

"I think…." Simon continued. "I think we were two people chucked into a shitty situation, fucked over, strained and bloody unlucky. And we found each other, despite all of that. Regardless of what ifs, maybes and fucking time travel." His voice lowered slightly and the humour slipped from it. "All I know is that, right now, I've got you in my arms, exactly where I want you to be, and it's messed up and complicated and unpredictable, but I wouldn't exchange it for the most perfect life in the world."

"I never thought I'd ever hear anyone say that to me." Nathan admitted honestly, voice heavy slightly as he felt moisture teasing his eyes.

"Well, get used to it." Simon said, smiling again. "'Cause I'll be saying it for the rest of our lives."

Nathan grinned and then they were kissing again, desperate and intense, and Nathan knew that Simon was right. What they had was worth the world, even if it was botched and battered and imperfect. Simon had done what no one else had been able to, he'd pieced Nathan's heart back together, and fixed the parts of him that had been broken, even if it was only with string.

Simon moved in him and Nathan trembled, wrapping his long legs around Simon's waist and pulling him in close, gasping as Simon's cock sunk deeper into his lax body, greedily taking every inch Simon could give. Nathan trembled under the intensity of it and Simon's arms were around him, one hand pining his hip to the ground while the other wrapped around his shoulders, pulling Nathan flush against him as he thrust in and out, making the Irishman shiver and gasp and groan, fingernails digging scratches into Simon's shoulder blades, causing him to wince as he was certain they were drawing blood.

"Fuck…you…you…Simon…" Nathan tried, and failed, clinging onto Simon and mouthing his neck wetly.

Simon grinned breathlessly to himself. He remembered being pleased that his sex-technique was improving when Nathan gasped that _'oh you're getting too good at this.'_ But now that Nathan could barely form coherent sentences, and the only thing his brain could think to say was his name, it set his whole body on fire, speeding up his thrusts, pistoning into that spot in Nathan he'd wished he'd known about before.

"Oh fuck, oh fuck…" Nathan muttered, the pitch of his moans changing. Simon took his hand from Nathan's hip, pressing it between them and grasping Nathan's hard and leaking cock that had been rubbing wantonly against his abdomen.

"Oh, shit." Nathan breathed out as his cock spilled all over Simon's hand, coating his fingers with warm and sticky mess.

"Nathan…" Simon all but stuttered out before he was coming, Nathan's ass squeezing his sensitive cock to the point of pain and then he was collapsing on top of Nathan, completely spent, supported by Nathan rubbing his hands comfortingly up and down his back.

"You happy now?" Simon muttered against Nathan's shoulder.

"Very." Nathan said, and Simon could hear the grin in his breathy voice. "I told you public sex was worth it."

Simon cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah." Was all he said.

Voices were coming from somewhere in the community centre and Simon pushed himself off of Nathan, groaning.

"Who the fuck is that?" Nathan asked, propping himself up onto his elbows.

"Sex police." Simon supplied, pulling his boxers over his legs. Nathan watched, grinning, as Simon chucked his own pants at him. The voices were getting louder now.

"Come on." He said. "Before we get caught red handed."

"I'm a right mess." Nathan said, pulling a face down at his come-smeared stomach.

Simon rolled his eyes. "See? This is why you need prior planning…"

They bickered happily as they continued to dress themselves, Simon watching as Nathan zipped up his black hoodie.

"What?" Asked Nathan.

Simon shook his head, looking down and blushing slightly, busying himself by doing up the zip on his jeans. "Nothing, I just…I miss our jumpsuits, sometimes. Truth be told, I always thought you looked pretty sexy in yours."

Nathan smirked to himself. "Fancy that." He said under his breath.

The sound of glass shattering echoed across the storeroom and the pair stared at each other before bolting out of the room and into the entrance corridor, leaving their shoes behind.

They came to an abrupt halt when they saw Kelly and Seth attempting to barricade the front entrance of the community centre with a fire extinguisher, the glass casing of it littering the floor.

Simon and Nathan watched for a moment as they propped the heavy fire extinguisher against the door, the weight keeping it shut.

"What the fuck is going on?" Nathan asked, causing Kelly and Seth to jump as they turned to them.

"What are you two still doing here?" Kelly asked.

"Nothing." Simon said immediately.

Nathan shook his head. "Never mind that, why are you two running about the place and smashing shit up?"

Seth looked hesitant for a moment. "It's me, I've had this gang on me for ages, we just saw them in the park and they've been on us ever since, we think we've lost them but I don't know."

"Why do you have a gang…?" But before Simon could finish his sentence, the window of the front entrance door smashed and a wheelie bin sailed through, landing on the floor between them. Kelly screamed as the fire extinguisher fell to the ground with a crash under the force of five strong men in hoods pushing the door until they all swarmed in.

Nathan's hand immediately flung out in Simon's direction and Simon licked his lips in anticipation, having never taken on five guys at once before.

"You!" One of them, obviously the leader, pointed at Seth. "You took my money!"

"I know!" Seth said, hands out in front of himself protectively. "I know, I'm sorry! But…I've got thousands back at my office, thousands! You let me go get it and you can have all the money you want!"

But the leader was shaking his head, egged on by his followers. "Nah, man, that ain't good enough." He said, bending down and pulling a retractable flick knife from his sock.

Seth hissed and Kelly shouted and then the entrance door was being pushed open. Everyone froze at the sight of Curtis and Alisha stood, dumbfounded, staring back at them.

"What the fuck is going on?" Alisha asked.

"Shit! He's got a knife!" Curtis called out, pointing at the leader with the flick knife and backing away in the same instant.

The leader with the knife turned to Curtis and Alisha and Simon clenched his fists, knowing his opportunity when he saw it. He surged forwards, grabbing the leader's knife arm and pulling it back, expecting the blade to clatter to the floor but it didn't.

Nathan shouted something unintelligible and pulled Simon back, Simon's firm grasp on the leader's arm pulling him back with him and all three of them landed in a heap on the ground and everything was silent.

Simon came to his senses first and pushed the leader of the gang off of Nathan, the leader stared at his empty fist for a moment and Kelly screamed as Nathan twitched, blood staining his hoodie where the handle of the flick knife was protruding from his chest.

A single tear streaked down Simon's cheek before he even realised what was happening and then the leader of the gang sprang to his feet.

"Nah, nah, nah man, I didn't mean to kill anybody." He backed away to the door, his followers falling in line, staring manically around at them. "Nobody saw nothing, you tell anyone and I'll kill you, I'll kill you all!" He practically screeched before all five of them were out of the door, knocking the fire extinguisher and leaving it clattering behind them.

That's when the panic really began to set in.

"Holy shit, holy shit, can't you rewind time?!" Curtis was screaming.

Seth's hands knotted in his hair as tears of pure helplessly streamed from his eyes. "We can't, it's in a fucking beetle!"

"Oh my God, oh my God…call an ambulance, call a fucking ambulance!" Kelly shouted, hyperventilating.

"We can't…" Alisha tried weakly. "The police…"

"I don't fucking care, just call a fucking ambulance…!"

As they continued to argue, Simon pushed himself to his knees and dragged himself to where Nathan lay, gathering his trembling body into his arms and blinking the tears down his face, trying to keep his eyes away from the blood stain so thick it blended with the black of his hoodie. He felt guilty that he couldn't take the knife out but he knew that would just make it worse.

"All right, all right, I'm calling an ambulance…" Alisha finally desisted and that was when Nathan's eyes seemed to strain and looked straight at Simon, all startlingly blue and beautiful. The pair stared at each other as if silently communicating, both knowing that no ambulance called would arrive in time.

Nathan almost smiled at the thought that crossed his mind as he stared up at him.

_Your immortality can't always protect you._

That's what Simon, his first love, had told him once.

Nathan had always assumed he meant that guy who was immune to powers, and because Simon had saved him, he was safe. He was saved.

But this, this was truly what he'd meant, his immortality couldn't always protect him because it wouldn't always be there. Nathan had sacrificed it, for a normal life, full of danger. The good with the bad, because apparently the bad made the good worth something.

As he looked up at Simon's face, eyes shining with tears and staring back down at him with such a beautifully devastated expression, he concluded that the bad, specifically the knife in his stomach, was awful, but the good was pretty fucking incredible.

"I guess it makes sense," Nathan finally said, surprising himself with how weak his voice sounded.

"Don't talk…" Simon said, hand gently stroking down the side of his face. It felt good.

"I remember in the beginning," Nathan continued, regardless. "I thought about it once, maybe something happened to me, you told me it didn't…you fucking liar." He laughed, he couldn't help himself. Blood bubbled from his lips and spotted on his cheeks.

"Nathan..." Simon tried, but he was crying too much to say much else.

"This explains why you came back, bit obvious, innit..." Nathan's face creased momentarily before his expression unclouded and he fixed Simon with his best accusatory stare, which was quite a feat when you had blood leaking from every orifice in your body. "You knew, all that time you were making me fall in love with you, you knew...explains all those brooding looks, I guess." Tears fell from Nathan's eyes so unexpectedly that he even startled himself.

All he was aware of, wanted to be aware of, in that moment was Simon's warm hand on his chilled cheek and the sound of Simon's cracking voice above him.

"Nothing was supposed to happen to you," Simon finally managed, sounding desperate. "We were supposed to protect you."

Nathan reached his hand up, which took way more effort than he was expecting, he was suddenly exhausted, and nudged Simon's cheek.

"It was always gonna be this way." He managed, surprising himself with, not just the amount of acceptance he had, but also for the amount of clarity and understanding he had for the situation.

Simon shook his head nonetheless. "You can't say that; you can't leave me." He said, as if Nathan dying would be some form of offence that was strictly prohibited.

But even though he was crying, a brilliant smile lit up Nathan's face as his bright eyes stared up at him. "I love you, Simon, you gave me my life back, this is okay..." He pressed his hand more firmly into Simon's cheek and titled his head just so.

"It's going to be okay," he repeated, as if it were a promise, before his hand fell limp and his eyes dulled. Simon grasped Nathan's cheek so tightly, so desperate for that light to come back, that he forced his earlier hand wound to reopen and leak through the bandage. It stained Nathan's skin, somehow even paler than it had been five seconds ago, with his blood.

…

The ambulance did come, eventually, and when they took Nathan's body away on the stretcher and asked what the fuck was going on, Kelly, Alisha, Curtis and Seth shocked Simon by telling the truth.

They told him they were finishing up their community service when a mad man had burst in with a knife…Simon didn't stick around to listen to the rest.

He made his way back to his flat, their flat, strangely numb and when he pushed the heavy door open it was like he was operating someone else's body instead of his own. The world without Nathan in it seemed suddenly such a cold and unforgiving place, even the metal biting into his hand was more painful that it had been before.

It was genuinely like something physical had happened to his brain, like only a few hours ago did he have a mind full of thoughts and ideas and worries and now everything was singular, he only had one thought in his mind. He knew exactly where he needed to be, and he knew exactly where he needed to go.

He opened the closet, keeping his eyes down to avoid seeing Nathan's clothes on their hangers, knowing that any kind of visual reminder would remind him of what had happened and would force it to hit home and would destroy him, he was comfortably numb at the moment and couldn't afford to be anything else, because if he accepted what had happened then he would collapse, pure and simple, and he didn't think he'd have the strength to get back up again, and to do what needed to be done. What had always needed to be done.

He pulled his previously abandoned cardboard box from the bottom of the closet and opened it, seeing the sightless ski mask staring up at him where it sat atop the rest of his black outfit, he was surprised to find himself relieved, almost comforted by the sight, like he was still training to become his future self and Nathan was worrying over him and everything was fine.

He swayed slightly at the thought, almost losing consciousness as the thought threatened to overwhelm him but he grounded himself, forced himself to still and when he opened his eyes again, they were full of a steely determination he had never felt before.

He pulled the outfit from the box and frowned as he saw a wad of cash tucked neatly at the bottom and suddenly remembered that that was the ten grand he'd locked away from selling his invisibility, he'd been unable to look at it because parting from his power had felt so wrong and it had almost felt like blood money.

Abandoning his suit on the floor, he reached in and pulled the cash out, hand stretching uncomfortably around the girth of it, and he knew precisely what he wanted to do with it.

…

Simon opened the door to Seth's office to find the man himself, slowly healing from the bruises on his face and neck from Lucy's attack, instead of wearing a suit like always he was merely clad in dark jeans and a long-sleeved t shirt, stretched out in his chair, devoid of the usual intimidating mystery that generally surrounded him, particularly in his eerily-lit office. Simon found it unnerving.

Seth looked up as he entered, and surprise registered on his exhausted face and he was on his feet.

"Simon…hi," he tried lamely. "Err…what…is everything okay?"

Seth visibly winced, obviously asking someone whose boyfriend had just been murdered if everything was okay wasn't the slickest move he'd ever made, but Simon saved him some embarrassment by simply ignoring the question all together.

He supposed he should have been mad at Seth but he wasn't, not even the tiniest part of him was, but that was because he knew that Seth was just a tiny cog in a machine that was bigger and more powerful than all of them.

"I need something from you." Simon said.

"Er, yeah, anything." Seth said immediately, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Simon reached into the bag he had slung over his shoulder and pulled out the ten grand, placing it on the desk in front of Seth.

"I want to buy a power." He said.

"Um, okay, any in particular?"

"My invisibility." He said. "I want it back, it's a part of me. I need something in my life to be normal right now. Please tell me you still have it."

"Yeah, yeah, I've still got it." Seth said, pulling his sleeve up. Simon didn't allow the relief to register on his face as he pushed the money towards Seth.

"Oh, no, mate. You keep it, it's yours." Seth declined immediately. "The power was yours anyway, plus, you know…it…I'm sorry, it was my fault. Nathan…I was responsible, for his death."

Simon shook his head blankly. "The universe was responsible for Nathan's death." He told him. "It's been planned for a long, long time and we just didn't know it."

Seth was still for a moment before he cleared his throat. "Um, I just have to ask you the formality, you know, about what you're gonna do with it."

Simon smirked but it was cold and completely devoid of humour, but when he spoke there was just the slightest, slightest hint in his voice of what could only be described as hope. "I'm going to save him."

Seth, however, cocked an eyebrow. "What? How?" He asked, curiosity getting the better of sympathy for a moment.

"The way I did before." Simon merely said, seeing no reason to hide the truth anymore. "By traveling back in time."

Seth's brows knitted together and he hesitated for a moment before he spoke. "But the time travel power, it's in a fucking bug, I can't help you there. I don't have another one."

"You don't." Simon nodded. "But, there is one out there, isn't there?" He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you remember?"

After a moment of pondering, realisation spread across Seth's features and Simon knew he was remembering the conversation they'd had in this very room mere weeks before.

An unfamiliar, dark-haired man had walked out of the office, sparing one look at Simon before he was gone.

" _What power did you give that guy?"_ Simon had asked Seth.

" _Oh, err...time travel."_ Seth had replied.

" _Time travel? Oh, did you get it from Curtis?"_

" _No, it's a different strain."_ Seth had explained absentmindedly. _"He can't time travel, he can just fling people back and forth."_

" _But how would that make someone fall in love with you?"_ He'd asked naively, remembering the unfamiliar man's declaration of his intended use for his power.

Seth, however, had merely shrugged. " _Dunno,"_ he'd said. _"We all do weird things for the people we love, I guess."_

Wasn't that shaping up to be the absolute truth?

"Do you know who that was?" Simon asked, "that dark-haired guy? Did you get his name or anything?"

"No." Seth said. "But, I know him, I've seen him around, anyway."

Simon nodded. "That's good enough, I suppose, he'll be easy to track down, then we can make him send me where I need to go."

"But, don't forget, he can't go with you, if he sends you back in time, then you won't be able to come back."

"I won't be coming back." Simon informed him honestly. But that wasn't just because of what he knew was going to happen to him, but because he felt like traveling back wasn't him particularly leaving anything behind to come back to.

He wasn't leaving, he was going home.

…

Simon watched the unfamiliar, dark-haired man walk through the underground car park, his car lights flashing as he unlocked his car and opened the door.

Simon felt strange, wrong even, at the idea of threatening anyone, let alone someone who, to his knowledge, was completely innocent.

But the alternative was walking up to him, conveniently mentioning that he knew about his power and just nicely asking him to pop him back a few months in time without him freaking out, running away and calling the police.

Simon sighed. Threatening it was, then. He found himself bizarrely comforted by the fact that it wasn't really him doing the threatening, it wasn't really his action because it was no longer his life, as far as he was concerned, he lived for another person now, and he only had one purpose in life because he knew that if he strayed from that for even a moment, he would have to think about everything that had happened and he would break, and he couldn't afford to break right now because he needed him. _He_ needed him. He had to save him.

"Hey!" Simon called out, stepping out from the shadows and pulling his hood down, making certain he had his shoulder bag firmly slung over his shoulder. He startled the unfamiliar man so much, he gasped out loud and dropped his car keys.

Simon advanced forward swiftly and kicked the keys under the car so the unfamiliar man couldn't grab them quickly.

"Hey, what the hell…!" He tried before Simon seized him, one handed, by the scuff of his jacket, forcing himself to look fierce.

"I know you have a power." Simon found himself saying.

"Mate…I…"

"I know you can send people backwards in time."

The guy, who previously looked like he was attempting to deny such a fact, stopped struggling against Simon's hand, fingers going lax where he'd previously been trying to pry Simon's grasp away.

"Yeah." He said wearily. "What of it?"

"I'm not going to hurt you." Simon told him, loosening his hold on him slightly as if to prove his point. "I just need you to send me somewhere."

There must have been something in his eyes that betrayed the emotion he was feeling in his heart, because the dark-haired guy's expression seemed to clear and after a moment, he nodded.

"All right. Where do you need to go?"

…

The dark-haired guy had told him to close his eyes, because apparently it lessened the nausea when you were 'flung' as he'd put it, across time and space.

Simon had rolled his eyes, wanted to tell him that he'd travelled in time before but he kept his mouth shut, and his eyes, as he felt a hand press against his forehead. He gripped his shoulder bag tightly, worth its weight in gold to him, and tried to calm his breathing. Not because of the travelling but because of the weight of the situation, of what he was going back to but also what he was leaving behind, it felt like he was leaving behind a part of himself. He didn't know if it was his innocence or his happiness or something more subtle, but some part of himself had died along with Nathan in his arms, and no matter how much time he got with his past self; that part of him would never come back.

He suddenly understood precisely why Nathan never truly got over his future self.

He shouted out in shock as he was, literally, flung through the air. There was no other word for it.

He came to a sudden, slamming halt and then his feet planted on the ground and he hit the air with the same force one would hit the water in a belly flop. He keeled over and gagged, spewing vomit all over the concrete floor, painting the ground with his innards.

His shoulder bag fell to the ground with a heavy thud and he grasped his knees, bent double and desperately sucking air into his lungs, his eyes swimming. It took a few moments for his vision to focus and then he could see his own sick on the floor, the smell permeating the air and he stood straight, looking around, but the dark-haired guy was gone.

He blinked. He'd, literally, been flung backwards in time and this must have been precisely where he'd asked to be flung to. He glanced around himself, it looked just like the estate, with no indication that he was anywhere else but in his present. He'd half-expected the air to feel different or the breeze to be cooler or something but it didn't. Everything was…normal.

It was off-putting.

He slowly picked his shoulder bag off of the ground and slung it over his shoulder, pulling his hood back up and stealing off into the other direction, aware that his past self, and people who knew his past self, would be wandering around the area and if they saw him, his entire plan would be ruined and the effort it took to turn invisible would gather too much attention.

His future self would never be that slack.

_You._ He corrected himself. _You can't be._

He kept his head down and kept to the alley ways until he made it to what looked like an abandoned warehouse, stealing inside before anyone saw him.

He approached the metal door to the lift with caution, surprised it was even there for him to find. He reached a hand tentatively out to it and slid the door open, the lift was still functioning when he stepped inside and he nearly had a panic attack as he started to descend, pausing before forcing himself to pull the metal door back and walk into what had once been his home.

He looked around at the blinking ceiling lights, because it was underground it was off the grid and was never cut off, half the lights were smashed and the ground littered with glass, there was no bed, no fridge, no nothing. Nothing about it resembled what he had known, and, as such, he didn't find it as hard to walk in. Rather, he became quickly depressed at the amount of work he had to do, never having been one for D.I.Y himself, whenever something needed doing around the flat, it always fell to Nathan.

Simon collapsed to the ground, just catching himself in a crouching position, shins splintering painfully and arms circling around his stomach, holding himself together or just holding himself, he wasn't sure. Dry sobs escaped him and he had to bury his face into the crease of his elbow to stop himself from screaming out and alerting anyone else to his presence, and that was precisely where stayed for a long time, paralysed with overwhelming emotion. His first instinct was to turn invisible but he knew there was no point, there was no one there to see him, anyway.

When the desolation ebbed and subdued, he stood straight and picked up his bag and wiped his eyes. He sat, cross-legged, on the floor and opened his shoulder bag. In it were three things, only three, but they were the three most important things in his life.

The first thing was his ski outfit, the second was his notepad full of dates and times he'd made before so he knew precisely when and where and what he had to do, and the third thing was a photograph.

It was a shot of Nathan, not even a particularly attractive shot, from a security camera on the wall of the flat from the future that he'd snagged to take back with him, meaning that technically the picture had never actually been taken. He considered the time when this would have been taken, when they were just starting out their community service and coming to terms with their powers and tentatively coming to terms with each other. He bizarrely found himself smiling fondly, it was a simpler time back then, in fact, he would even go as far as to say that picking up litter was the best time of his life.

And then he knew exactly where he wanted to be.

He secured the picture to the wall, knowing more pictures and a lot of digital clocks would join it at some point in the near future. He pressed the picture of Nathan with his fingertips, gaze lingering on his face for a moment before he walked away, donning his outfit, pulling his ski mask over his face and dragging the metal door shut behind him.

It was nothing for him to scale the community centre and land softly on the roof, invisible so he didn't have to worry about visibility, he approached the spot on the roof where he knew the skylight would be, finding it intact and functional. He broke it as quietly as he could with his boot, removing a half of the shattered pane and leaving it on the roof, knowing that the skylight would remain broken for his past self to find.

He dropped down into the dark, empty main hall of the community centre and felt immediately better about everything. He wandered around for a few seconds, letting the nostalgia fill him up, feeling like it was a million years since his community service when the reality was that it had really been just a smattering of days.

His head turned immediately to a source of noise that he quickly identified as footsteps, getting fainter and fainter and he knew that at this time of night, the only person in the community centre would be Nathan. He felt a lump swell in his throat and had to fight off the urge to visualise himself.

He desperately wanted to go to him, to take him in his arms again, to feel his skin under his own once more and assure him that everything was going to be okay.

But Simon knew that he had to let things play out exactly as they should, that it was always going to be this way.

So he did nothing. He just sat.

...

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I honestly don't know what to say. I've written a lot over the years but this is the only story I felt has genuinely taken me on a journey. I was originally going to end this very differently to the way it has ended here but I feel like this ending is how it was meant to be and, although very sad, brings the love story full circle and allows the future to progress as unhindered as possible for the characters. I believe this ending also facilitates the ability to be able to go from chapter 22 back to chapter 1 without much of a break in narrative, which is precisely what I believe a cyclical, time-traveling story should be able to achieve. I've loved writing every word of this and I honestly cannot express my love and gratitude to all of you enough, for sticking with me and encouraging me and making this entire process worthwhile. I never expected this to get as much recognition or appreciation as it has and I'm genuinely overwhelmed by the response and I sincerely hope you all have enjoyed this as much as I have. Thank you all so much Xxx


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